Dec 272024
One of the most exciting announcements for me from the Game Awards is also the most mysterious – Project Century.
A new game from RGG Studio, the developers of the Yakuza series, Project Century has received almost no information beyond the initial reveal trailer.
(Sega hasn’t even posted the trailer themselves.)
Most of what we know is the little we can glean from the trailer – it’s set in 1915, appears to take place in a Japanese city, and features brawler combat that looks even more brutal than that in the Yakuza series. At a couple points, we see the protagonist fighting with weapons; at another point, he attacks with a bottle and then performs another attack using the broken bottle as well.
In between the fighting, the trailer also has a short clip that shows him escorting a woman, although whether that hints at some sort of date mechanics or a story sequence or something else entirely is too much to guess from such a short section.
The protagonist wears a jacket (probably a happi coat, though I’m no expert) that features the logo and name of a company, “Yashima Boueki Kaisha,” or “Japan Trade Company,” which Sega recently filed trademarks for.
We got a closer look at the protagonist’s coat when RGG Studio tweeted a picture of Snoop Dogg wearing it, and studio head Masayoshi Yokoyama tweeted a picture of himself wearing it as well. This could imply Snoop Dogg will play a character in the game, although we don’t have enough information to say that for sure.
Finally, one thing that stands out to me from the trailer is that at the end when it shows the working title “Project Century” alongside the protagonist, we can see he has very vividly blue eyes. They almost glow, although it could be a stylistic effect, since we never get a look at his face during the trailer proper. Either way, the blue eyes still stand out to me. Is the protagonist only part Japanese, maybe?
Since the reveal, fans of come up with all sorts of theories. Some think it’s an entirely new IP, while others think it could be set in the same universe as the Yakuza series. (It’s worth remembering that Judgment was first revealed under the working title “Project Judge.”) People have guessed that it could show the origins of the Tojo Clan, or possibly the Omi Alliance, since 1915 would line up with the Omi Alliance’s origins. Others thought this could be a historical spin-off starring an ancestor of Yagami, from Judgment.
A handful of new details have now been shared online, the most important of which are that the protagonist is not based on a specific actor and that all our theories are wrong.
Yes, apparently Yokoyama said he’s seen the theories about Project Century and they’re wrong.
Considering the sheer number of theories people have suggested, it’s impossible for them all to be wrong (ex. it’s either connected to the Yakuza series or it isn’t; those can’t both be wrong), so it’s probably safe to interpret that as meaning the most popular theories bandied about since the trailer are incorrect.
It makes me wonder if it could be something entirely different from what we’ve been thinking. Maybe it’s an alternate history or another world, something wild that doesn’t fit with what we think we know.
Whatever the case may be, I’m looking forward to when we finally learn more about Project Century. What do you expect from this mysterious new game?