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Yakuza / Like a Dragon Dev Seemingly Teases Snoop Dogg Appearance in Project Century

Yakuza / Like a Dragon developer Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio appears to be teasing a Snoop Dogg appearance in its mysterious new game Project Century.

RGG Studio posted a photo of Snoop wearing the distinctive jacket worn by the protagonist in the Project Century trailer. At the same time, studio director Masayoshi Yokoyama posted a photo of himself in the jacket, mirroring the pose of Snoop.

The Snoop photo has the teasing caption “…yet,” while Yokoyama’s, in Japanese, said: “please wait a bit, yeah?” It’s not the tease RGG Studio fans were expecting of Project Century, which appears to be a new series potentially connected to Yakuza / Like a Dragon but set in 1915, given it was only revealed at The Game Awards 2024 a few days ago, but there are some elements which aren’t completely bizarre.

Snoop was also at The Game Awards 2024, for example, where he performed a medley of songs to the developers and press in attendance. It’s therefore likely the photo was taken there, and could be as simple as him liking the jacket and wanting a photo in it.

But this isn’t the first time Snoop Dogg’s name has been brought up in relation to the Yakuza / Like a Dragon series. Following on from Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, which featured Danny Trejo as the likeness and voice for villain Dwight Méndez, publisher Sega asked fans which other celebrities they’d like to appear in the series going forward.

Alongside video game adjacent stars such as Keanu Reeves, Mark Hamill, Jack Black, Rami Malek, and David Hayter came other celebrities, one of which was none other than Snoop Dogg. This tease could therefore be the end result of this poll, though nothing is confirmed yet.

Snoop would likely appear as a new character and not just as a cameo of himself, especially if he does show up in Project Century since it’s set 56 years before he was born. Little is known about the game, however, so anything is possible.

RGG Studio fans are already deep in the theorizing phase to figure out what the heck Project Century is, of course, and already have ideas on where it’s set, if it’s connected to the Yakuza / Like a Dragon franchise, who it’s main character is, and if it’s using the developer’s Dragon Engine.

They’ll have to be patient for these answers though. Project Century is probably still a while away given it doesn’t have a title yet, and RGG Studio is currently developing Virtua Fighter 6 and Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii alongside it.

It is known for its unbelievably speedy development times, however. In the last five years, for example, its released Yakuza 4 Remastered, Yakuza 5 Remastered, Yakuza: Like a Dragon, Judgment Remastered, Lost Judgment, Like a Dragon: Ishin, Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name, and Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, alongside three Super Monkey Ball Games and an enhanced remaster of Virtua Fighter 5. That’s 12 games in total.

In our 9/10 review of the last RGG Studio release, 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.

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