The developer of the Yakuza series, Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio, had its biggest launch ever on Valve’s digital platform, Steam, with the release of Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth.
According to the concurrent player count statistics for Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth on SteamDB, developer Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio had its biggest game launch ever on Steam, with a peak concurrent player count of 37,426. This is unprecedented for the studio, as its prior games have not achieved even half of this all-time peak.
Based on the statistics, the previous entry in the Yakuza series, Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name, had a peak concurrent player count of 13,737, while the entry before it, Yakuza: Like a Dragon, had an all-time peak of 9,535 players. Since the arrival of the series on Steam, each title that has been released alongside the console versions has seen growth in player count over the prior entry.
Additionally, Steam charts reveal that Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth is currently the 4th best non-free-to-play title on the platform, based on revenue. As such, the latest entry in the Yakuza series ended up being the biggest launch yet for Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio.
Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth serves as the ninth mainline installment in the Yakuza series. It is a direct sequel to Yakuza: Like a Dragon (2020) and the spin-off title Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name (2023). The game’s protagonists include Ichiban Kasuga, the main character from Yakuza: Like a Dragon, and Kazuma Kiryu, the original protagonist of the series. The narrative unfolds in the franchise’s first-ever overseas setting, Hawaii, alongside familiar locations in Japan. Kasuga and Kiryu, supported by both old and new allies, join forces to assist Kasuga in locating and reuniting with his mother in Hawaii, while Kiryu grapples with the challenges of battling cancer. The game was released on January 26, 2024, for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.