Dataminers claim Yakuza Kiwami 3's ending has been changed, with a considerable knock-on effect on the rest of the franchise

Dataminers believe they've found evidence that Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio has changed the ending to Yakuza 3 in the upcoming Yakuza Kiwami 3.

Though the game isn't even out yet, some dataminers claim to have discovered the full script hidden in the playable demo, suggesting the ending has been revised.

The report that follows contains HUGE spoilers for Yakuza 3, so only proceed if you're happy to be spoiled!

At the end of the original Yakuza 3, the game's main antagonist, Yoshitaka Mine, plummets to his death, taking fellow bad guy Andre Richardson with him, and setting up the events of Yakuza 4. Now, however, if the claims are true, Mine miraculously survives the fall and joins the Daidoji, with a considerable knock-on effect on the rest of the franchise. Dark Ties, a spin-off game bundled in with Yakuza Kiwami 3, is a prequel starring Mine (thanks, TheGamer).

"The ending for Dark Ties has been leaked and has massively retconed the end of the game to the point where it rectons something in Yakuza 4," said one player. Another said they had "definite proof" regarding the amended conclusion, writing: "I was sceptic first, but after having datamined the demo myself with a datamining tool and exploring the auth file (for anyone trying themselves -> par decomp. -> data and db.bis.en-> Auth file), I found the proof for the new end."

Back in September, though, the studio said there "won't be any major changes to the story", but did suggest we'd get to learn more about the motivations behind why certain characters behave the way that they do.

The silver lining, I guess, is that we don't have long to wait to find out if this is just a troll kicking up trouble or that the game's conclusion really has changed: Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties is set to release for PC, PS5, Xbox Series, Switch 2, and last-gen consoles on 12th February, 2026.

This latest furore comes on top of pressure from fans to remove Teruyuki Kagawa, who portrays Goh Hamazaki, from the cast after he admitted to sexual misconduct and forcibly touched a woman without consent in 2019.

Last weekend, we learned Yakuza 3 Remastered will no longer be available as a standalone purchase after Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties releases next month. While people who already own the game will "still be able to continue playing it", "those new to the series who wish to experience the original version" will only be able to play it if they buy the whole Yakua Complete Series bundle.