Discover your next video game obsession: Pick up 'Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth'

On January 26, the ninth mainline game in the "Yakuza" series, "Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth," was released worldwide. The game became the fastest-selling game in the series, selling a million copies in its first week. 

The North American launch saw an extensive marketing campaign that included commercials featuring U.S. comedian Druski. This marketing push highlights how the series' popularity has significantly increased in the West. What was once a niche Japanese video game series has become a mainstream, juggernaut franchise. 

The "Yakuza" series, was created by Toshihiro Nagoshi and published by Sega. The series consists of 23 entries, nine being mainline games and the rest being spin-offs. Most entries in the series fall under the umbrella of action-adventure and beat 'em up genres. The games tell the story of former gangster Kazuma Kiryu as he deals with the world of Japanese organized crime. 

The phrase "Japanese 'Grand Theft Auto'" is often used to describe the series due to both games' shared focus on open-world gameplay steeped in crime. While "Grand Theft Auto" gives its players complete freedom, "Yakuza" has more limits, but it makes up for this by offering fun minigames and side quests.

"Yakuza" games are mainly set in the fictional Kamurochō district, which is likely based on the district Kabukichō, located in the Shinjuku ward of Toyko. Minigames include Sega arcade games, "Mahjong" and "Pachinko." The games are also known for their idiosyncratic side quests, which can range from hilarious, such as Kiryu winning a chicken from bowling, to heartwarming, such as Kiryu encouraging a transgender woman to accept herself. A player can spend hours in a "Yakuza" game without even playing the main storyline.

The first game in the series, "Yakuza," debuted in 2005. The game's success led to a sequel, "Yakuza 2," which was released in Japan in 2006 but not released in North America until 2008. While the game was a commercial success in Japan, its late release date and absence of an English dub resulted in only 40,000 copies being sold in North America.

The game's failure began a trend of Sega viewing future series releases outside Japan as inessential. The third, fourth and fifth installments were released to fanfare in Japan from 2009 to 2012, but U.S. fans wouldn't be able to get their hands on the series until much later. The series' lack of popularity in the West stemmed from a feedback loop: Sega would invest less effort into the North American releases, resulting in lower sales. 

2015 saw the release of "Yakuza 0." The game, a prequel, didn't require prior series knowledge, giving Sega the opportunity to cultivate new fans in the West.

The game was released worldwide in 2017 and quickly became the most popular entry in the series at the time. In 2020, the game saw a massive spike in popularity when the karaoke song featured in the game, "Bakamitai - Taxi Driver Edition," became an internet meme, amassing more than 36 million plays on Spotify. 

Videos of deepfakes with characters singing the song went viral on the social media platform X and YouTube. The meme helped solidify "Yakuza" and Kazuma as household names for gamers. 

Following the success of "Yakuza 0," Sega became more confident in bringing over games in the series. The next few years saw mainline entries, remakes of the first two games and spin-offs all being released in the West.

In 2020, the series saw another breakthrough in popularity with the release of "Yakuza 7," titled "Yakuza: Like A Dragon" in the West. The game introduced a new protagonist, Ichiban Kasuga, and replaced the series' beat 'em up combat with turn-based combat.

While previous entries were PlayStation exclusives, the series has expanded to Xbox and PC platforms. The new platforms have widened the game's audience significantly.

With its games readily available, it is easier than ever to become a fan of the "Yakuza" series.