The ninth mainline installment in the Like a Dragon—formerly known as Yakuza—franchise debuts to record-high sales and rave reviews.
Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth has sold a million copies in its opening week, Sega has announced. This achievement makes Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth the fastest-selling title in the long-running series.
Originally started in 2005, the Like a Dragon franchise has so far produced 23 games. But the English versions of most of those titles were released under the old Yakuza moniker, which Sega eventually changed to Like a Dragon in 2022 in order to bring the series’ Western name in line with its Eastern moniker, Ryu Ga Gotoku. And while it wasn’t that long ago that the publisher insisted the Like a Dragon franchise remains a niche offering, its latest consolidated financial report revealed that the series surpassed 21 million in lifetime sales as of 2023.
The latest installment has continued that commercial momentum, with Sega just revealing that Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth achieved a million sales during its launch week. Describing that figure as an improvement over the last mainline entry would be an understatement, as Yakuza: Like a Dragon was recently confirmed to be sitting at 1.8 million lifetime sales as of late 2023, three years since its release. Going by the series’ historical sales data and this newly reported milestone, it is possible that Infinite Wealth could surpass that figure before its first anniversary.
『#龍が如く８』シリーズ最速で全世界100万本突破‼︎
— セガ公式アカウント🦔 (@SEGA_OFFICIAL) February 2, 2024
みなさまの熱い支持のおかげです。ありがとうございます！
"#LikeaDragon #InfiniteWealth" has sold over 1 million copies worldwide!
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Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth Launch Sales Matched Its Critical Reception
Apart from boasting the title of the fastest-selling entry in the franchise, Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth is also currently one of the best-rated games of 2024. Its aggregate review score on Metacritic presently sits at 89, making it the third highest-rated game of the year, behind Tekken 8 and The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered. The hit game shares that ranking with Persona 3 Reload, another one of Sega’s RPGs that released on February 2.
Like a Dragon Mainline Games Lifetime Sales
| Game | Global Release | Lifetime Sales | Last Sales Update |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yakuza | September 5, 2006 | 1.5 million | December 2013 (including Kiwami remake) |
| Yakuza 2 | September 9, 2008 | 1.3 million | June 2019 (including Kiwami remake) |
| Yakuza 3 | March 9, 2010 | 800,000 | June 2011 |
| Yakuza 4 | March 15, 2011 | 500,000 | September 2011 |
| Yakuza 5 | December 8, 2015 | 700,000 | December 2016 |
| Yakuza 0 | January 24, 2017 | 2 million | December 2017 |
| Yakuza 6: The Song of Life | April 17, 2018 | 1 million | June 2019 |
| Yakuza: Like a Dragon | November 10, 2020 | 1.8 million | December 2023 |
| Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth | January 26, 2024 | 1 million | February 2024 |
The game’s strong critical reception undoubtedly helped its early commercial momentum, but Sega’s intensified marketing efforts evident in the RPG’s strong trade show presence also likely contributed to its success. Moreover, while the English version of Yakuza: Like a Dragon was months behind the Japanese release, the 2023 Like a Dragon: Ishin remake and Infinite Wealth have both been treated to simultaneous global launches. Infinite Wealth also improved on the Yakuza: Like a Dragon difficulty curve, making the game much more accessible, a fact that was not lost on reviewers.
The massively successful launch of Infinite Wealth is even more impressive in light of the fact that this was the first entry in the franchise to debut at a $69.99 price point, a $10 increase compared to the previous installments. And while time will tell where the series goes from here, what’s already evident is that Like a Dragon has now firmly established itself as one of Sega’s flagship franchises with mainstream appeal.
Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth
Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio’s Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth builds on its predecessor’s ideas, delivering turn-based combat and a gripping and lengthy narrative led by Ichiban Kasuga. However, the story also brings back Kazuma as a protagonist and introduces a new location in Hawaii, which is a significant departure from the franchise’s previous games.
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By DOMINIK BOŠNJAK 2 Feb 2024
