Just a while ago, Sega has revealed the latest installment from the Yakuza franchise - which is Ryu ga Gotoku 7: Hikari to Yami no Yukue (Yakuza 7: The Whereabout of Light and Darkness). This is the first game from the mainline Yakuza series that not feature Kiryu Kazuma - the Dragon of Dojima - as the main protagonist. Instead, the main character of this game is Ichiban Kasuga - who was first introduced in the Yakuza Online game.
Here is the announcement trailer, from Sega:
Yakuza 7 is the story of the new protagonist Ichiban Kasuga, a man belong to the Tojo Yakuza Clan. On New Year's Eve of 2001, he was ordered by the leader of his clan to take responsibility for the crimes of Jo Sawashiro - the young leader of the Arakawa family. Going to jail for 18 years because of a crime he didn't commit, Kasuga still does it for the sake of his family. Yet, upon release, he found out that no one was there to welcome his freedom.
To put more salt in the wound, he found out that the Tojo Clan has collapsed due to an operation from the police force, named “Operation Kamurocho 3K”. The cause of this operation comes from none other than Masumi Awakawa - Kasuga's respected leader.
Kasuga then rushing to Awakawa's place, looking for an answer - only to be shot by the one he once considered as 'father'.
So what is the truth behind this incident? What can Kasuga do in the middle of a now-changing Kamurocho, much different from before he went to jail? That's the story of Yakuza 7: The Whereabout of Light and Darkness.
Also, a big change in this game, compared to the predecessors in the franchise is that Yakuza 7 will utilize a real-time battle command system of RPG game, instead of being an action game.
Yakuza 7 will be released in Japan on January 16, 2020, with the Western version follows later.