Physics-based simulation game Cricket Through the Ages will launch for Switch and PC via Steam on March 1, publisher Devolver Digital and developer Free Lives announced.
29.01.2024 - 12:29 / ign.com / Ryan Dinsdale
Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth has logged the Yakuza series' biggest ever launch on Steam, with more than four times the player count of previous mainline entry Yakuza: Like a Dragon.
Infinite Wealth, which arrived January 26 as the eight mainline Yakuza game, achieved a peak concurrent player count of 46,161 during its launch weekend, compared to the seventh mainline entry's peak of 9,535 concurrent players, according to SteamDB.
The previous record was held by spin-off Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name, which launched in November 2023, but even this was at just 13,737 peak concurrents and therefore blown out of the water by Infinite Wealth.
These are the only comparable numbers for the Yakuza series, however, as all previous games only launched on Steam after their initial releases on console. But the growth from Yakuza: Like a Dragon to Infinite Wealth certainly suggests a huge boost in popularity of the series overall.
Infinite Wealth takes the series outside of Japan for the first time as protagonists Ichiban Kasuga and Kiryu Kazuma arrive in Hawaii and, naturally, soon become involved in a complex web of criminal underworld shenanigans.
It features the Yakuza series' biggest map to date and lets players become a samurai, surfer, and housekeeper as it continues the unique blend of dramatic crime thriller and completely wacky side content, this time including what's basically an entire Pokémon game.
Publisher Sega has caused some frustration, however, as Infinite Wealth's New Game Plus mode is exclusive to the Deluxe and Ultimate versions of the game, which come in at $15 and $40 more expensive respectfully.
In our 9/10 review, IGN said: "Sprawling, enthralling, and packed with dynamic brawling, Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth isn’t just the best turn-based Like a Dragon game, it’s one of the greatest games in the entire series."
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.
Physics-based simulation game Cricket Through the Ages will launch for Switch and PC via Steam on March 1, publisher Devolver Digital and developer Free Lives announced.
Honk-Honk NPCs are scattered all across map locations of Hawaii and Japan in and trade character buffs for money. Inspired by Puff-Puff side quests from the series, tracking down these people can make you stronger. However, it can be hard to find some Honk-Honk characters since they spawn randomly on your map.
Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth has become the series' most successful launch on Steam over its launch weekend.
In the lead-up to Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth’s launch, developer Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio made it abundantly clear that the RPG was going to be its biggest, most ambitious game to date, and in the immediate aftermath of its release, it looks like the game is enjoying the sort of success the developer would have hoped for. In addition to receiving widespread acclaim from critics, Infinite Wealth also broke the series’ peak concurrent user count record on Steam upon launch, and as per Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio, was generating similar interest in leading up to its release as well.
Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth has earned the largest launch on Steam for any game released by Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio.
Fans of Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth recently discovered a reference to Shenmue, with characters discussing an incident revolving around its protagonist, Ryo Suzuki. Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth launched earlier this week, featuring the same open-world exploration and turn-based RPG battle mechanics as its predecessor, Yakuza: Like a Dragon. Prior to Yakuza: Like a Dragon, the franchise was a beat-em-up action brawler that saw players exploring open-world cities. Many fans believe that a lot of Like a Dragon's mechanics can be traced back to fellow Sega IP, Shenmue.
The Like A Dragon series has never been afraid to make cute little nods to certain characters and side quests that have appeared in previous games, with minigames such as Like A Dragon Gaiden's colosseum fights usually crammed with references to several past titles. Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth is no exception, which gives us a cameo from a couple of characters those of you who have played the Judgment spinoff series will be very familiar with.
Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth is the biggest Yakuza series game launch on Steam by a long way.
Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth received widespread critical acclaim from critics in the lead-up to its release, becoming the highest-rated game in the series to date, and it seems that’s being reflected in how the game is performing. Having launched earlier today, the game has got off to a solid start, if its Steam numbers are any indication.
continues the saga of Ichiban Kasuga, heading up his second installment in the series formerly known as. Following up on Ichiban's introduction in and original series protagonist Kazuma Kiryu's brilliant reintroduction in , focuses on the dual heroes as they travel to Honolulu separately, but on the same mission: to find Ichiban's long-lost mother, Akane. The two eventually meet up and combine their efforts, discovering much more than they bargained for as they near the center of a seedy plot.
Kazuma Kiryu's bucket list side story in Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth features callbacks and references to several of the series' spinoffs, including Dead Souls, Kenzan, and Ishin.
Just like all the previous games, possibly more so, Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth is crammed with interesting and unique minigames, some of which are clearly satirical takes on already existing mechanics and titles. For example, one such minigame will see protagonist Ichiban Kasuga pick up a camera and snap pictures of the local perverts in a minigame called Sicko Snap, something that will sound very familiar if you've ever played either of the two Pokemon Snap games.