Yakuza PS3's Third Character Revealed

The main characters keep on coming for Sega's still unnamed PS3 Yakuza sequel. Today, the company revealed via Famitsu.com that Shun Akiyama will join the cast as a playable character.

When Sega first announced the new PS3 sequel, it listed fan favorite Goro Majima as a main character, but left open the possibilities for multiple main characters. A couple of week's back, series hero Kazuma Kiryu was confirmed as a second main character.

Akiyama is the third main character for the game. Of course, he's no main character rookie in the Yakuza universe, as he was one of the four playable characters in Yakuza 4.

Sega did not share in-game screens of Akiyama. Instead, it shared a single piece of artwork, showing Akiyama with his guns drawn. The "guns blazing" thing seems to be a recurring theme in all the character artwork for the new Yakuza game.

Official artwork shared by Sega today. As with the artwork for Goro and Kazuma, Shun is shown here guns blazing.

Series director Toshihiro Nagoshi shared some comments today on Akiyama's role. "Akiyama was in contention for most popular amongst the main characters in Yakuza 4. He has an adult charm that's different from that of Kazuma Kiryu. We will definitely be able to make use of his charms in the next title, so expect Akiyama to have a huge role in the game."

If Sega's marketing patterns for the new Yakuza game continue, expect Shun's face to appear outside Shinjuku's Don Quijoti tomorrow.

Akiyama talks up the girls and plays darts in Yakuza 4. Sega has yet to release screenshots of the new PS3 sequel.