Like a Dragon: Gaiden won’t feature English VA at launch

The release of Yakuza: Like a Dragon back in 2020 represented the first game in the series to feature a full set of English voice acting since the launch of the very first title all the way back for the PS2. While future games will continue to offer the option for Japanese or English voices, the upcoming Like a Dragon: Gaiden will unfortunately only include the former – at least at launch.

Taking to Twitter, the English voice actor for Like a Dragon: Gaiden’s protagonist Kazuma Kiryu – Yong Yea – said “Since Like A Dragon: Gaiden is a few weeks away and many may not know about this, thought I should let you know the English dub will not be available on the 11/8 [8th of November] launch date and will release as a post-launch patch (no official date yet). Hope you'll look forward to it!”

While somewhat disappointing, the Like a Dragon series has long been known for its Japanese VA, and so many long-time fans are likely to default to Japanese anyway. That said, for those who have gotten accustomed to the English dub thanks to Yakuza: Like a Dragon, its sequel ‘Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth’ will seemingly include English from the get-go, with Yong Yea adding:

“For Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth, I don't know what I can and can't say, so I'll relay what's currently public. If you go to its Steam listing, English audio is checkmarked, suggesting simultaneous release for Japanese and English dubs. Pumped for y'all to play it on 1/24/2024!”

SEGA has been known in the past to release games in the West months after their Japanese launch in order to work on the dub and overall translations. Fortunately, even though you might have to wait for an update to play the game with English voice acting, it is welcome to see the publisher ensure that Like a Dragon: Gaiden gets a simultaneous worldwide release.

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KitGuru says: Are you excited for Like a Dragon: Gaiden? Would you have played the game in English if it was available at launch? Will Persona 6 take a similar approach? Let us know down below.

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