Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties Signals the End of an Era

Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties is set to come out on February 12, 2026, for PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S and Nintendo Switch 2. It's a complete remake of Yakuza 3 from 2009, plus a brand-new side story called Dark Ties, which stars Yoshitaka Mine as the bad guy.

These two experiences are combined into one game, which includes both standard Kazuma Kiryu fighting and a new storyline that looks into Mine's past. RGG Studio head Masayoshi Yokoyama has stated that Yakuza Kiwami 3 will be the last game in the Kiwami remake series.

This will change how fans feel about the Kiwami series.

Not a comment from a fan website or rumor mill based on guesswork. This information came straight from Yokoyama during a video where he said that the Kiwami series will end after this third book. Sega and RGG Studio are instead going to start a new series with a different direction and style.

Gamers have been able to bring older games like Yakuza and Yakuza 2 up to date by giving them the Kiwami name and using new graphics engines and quality-of-life changes. Kiwami 3 continues this practice by adding Dark Ties, but Yokoyama made it clear that future games will not start with "Kiwami.

Instead, they will be released under a new name that is not just "Like a Dragon 9" or another number in the series.

This choice shows a bigger shift in how RGG Studio wants to develop the brand. Even though Yakuza and Like a Dragon have been around for a long time, along with spin-offs like Judgment, the Kiwami line was always a respect for older games.

Putting an end to it now suggests that Sega might be ready to try out new stories, games, or even genre mixes while still working in the larger world that RGG has built up over the past 20 years. Fans were hoping that Yakuza 4, 5, or 6 would be remade in the Kiwami way.

This news is mostly bad. The way Yokoyama put it makes it sound like those projects won't be coming out under the Kiwami banner.

This means that the familiar remake style and pace of earlier games might not be back. What comes next will probably have a different name and a different way of making games, which Yokoyama says players will enjoy more after playing Kiwami 3.

Still, Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties isn't just a remake. Reviews and sneak peeks of the demo show that Sega is adding new things to the game, like more ways to fight and Dark Ties' unique view of Mine's story.

Some parts of the remake have caused controversy, such as changes to the way the story is told and how the images are shown.

This may be one reason why the company thinks 2026's Kiwami will be the last remake of this type. People who follow the industry also see this move as part of Sega's bigger plan for the Yakuza series. Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth and other games in the series have already made it more popular, so it's no longer just Kazuma Kiryu's story.

With hints and nods to future themes built into Kiwami 3, it may be able to connect the old guard with a bigger picture that hasn't been released yet. In real life, this means that Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties is more than just a remake; it's a goodbye to a part of Yakuza history that honors the past while getting players ready for the next episode.

Sega's decision to grow instead of just iterate shows that the company is sure its customers are ready for change, even if it means saying goodbye to the beloved Kiwami brand. When Kiwami 3 comes out in February, it will be both a celebration of a long-running remake tradition and the start of a new era that Sega and RGG Studio plan to write on their own terms.