The Dark Ties game featured in Yakuza Kiwami 3 was just a video at first
, by Thibaut
Yakuza Kiwami 3 is a remake of the third installment originally released in 2009 on PS3 that got announced at the Tokyo Game Show 2025 last week. It will be accompanied by a brand new spin-off titled “Dark Ties.”
In this title, the player will take on the role of the antagonist Yoshitaka Mine. When launching the game, the player will be able to choose whether they want to play Yakuza Kiwami 3 or “Dark Ties.” Regarding the latter, director Ryosuke Horii made a small revelation during an interview with Famitsu.
He revealed that “Dark Ties” was originally just a video that was supposed to accompany Yakuza Kiwami 3. However, RGG Studio ultimately decided to make this portion playable, as the team realized that "if we were going to tell his story, it would be better if it were playable."
"We thought it would satisfy players more, and it was a project we really wanted to do. We also thought that if we missed this opportunity, we wouldn't get another one, so we decided to go ahead with it."
Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties will be released on February 11, 2026, on PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch 2, and PC.
Source: famitsu.com