Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio had originally planned to make the Dark Ties content in Yakuza Kiwami 3 just a video before it ultimately decided to make it a full-fledged spinoff game.
Speaking with Famitsu, Ryosuke Horii, the director behind the project, revealed that Dark Ties, which features Yoshitaka Mine as a playable character in his own adventure, was initially conceived as a video that would be packaged with Yakuza Kiwami 3. However, the team figured that as that players would likely want to control Mine in his own outing, the decision was made to build a playable game around the character.
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We thought that would increase player satisfaction, and it was a subject that we wanted to try as well. We also thought ‘if we miss this opportunity, we won’t have another chance’, so we decided to go in that direction.
Elsewhere, Hiroyuki Sakamoto, the producer on the Like A Dragon/Yakuza franchise, noted that Mine “always ranks in the top five of the series’ favourite characters” with fans, despite the fact he only appears in Yakuza 3. Dark Ties sees players controlling Mine in Kamurocho, Tokyo, and chronicles his journey into the underworld and offers more insight into how his story unfolds prior to him clashing with Kazuma Kiryu.
Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties launches February 12, 2026 for PS5, PS4, PC, Nintendo Switch 2, Xbox Series X/S, and Xbox One. The original Yakuza 3 was released for the PS3 in 2009 in Japan and was localised for the US and EU markets a year later. The story revolves around Kiryu-san as he leaves the underworld behind to manage an orphanage in Okinawa, only to become embroiled in the Tojo Clan’s activities once more in events surrounding the Military Base Expansion Bill.
[Source – Famitsu via Automaton, VGC]