Yakuza Kiwami studio director says Switch version is "selling like hotcakes"
Vindication for Nintendo fans
All the way back in 2022, Ryu Ga Gotoku studio head Masayoshi Yokoyama spoke about the chances of bringing the Yakuza series to the Switch. After the series had an abysmal outing on Wii U, Nintendo fans were hoping the franchise would get another crack at things on a much more successful platform, but Yokoyama felt differently.
Back then, Yokoyama said the Yakuza series wasn’t a good fit for Switch due to its family-friendly image, especially in Japan. Yokoyama also said that the “underground” nature of the Yakuza series didn’t mesh well with the Switch, so it was pretty unlikely the series would come over. Fast-forward 5 years and Yokoyama is eating his words in more ways than one.
We’re not sure what happened, but someone gave the word to bring Yakuza Kiwami over to Switch, and it seems that was a very smart decision. It was surprising to see the franchise head over after earlier comments from the studio head, but it was definitely a good call, as apparently the game is selling well above expectations. We don’t have exact figures, but Ryu Ga Gotoku studio head Masayoshi Yokoyama confirmed the sales boon in a message on social media. You can see Yokoyama’s full comments below.
First of all, I heard that ‘Kiwami’ is selling like hotcakes. That’s good. The executives of the company were predicting the number of units. I missed it by a long shot. I think I looked at it a bit too conservatively. Kato, the marketing manager, guessed it, but it was very exciting. It was 20 years ago when I made the first Yakuza game. And then it was changed to ‘Kiwami’, but even ‘Kiwami’ had already been released, hadn’t it? It’s been out for a long time, and I thought it was something that people all over the world had touched, but this time, with the Amazon Prime drama and all the other things that happened, it’s on Switch. Well, it’s already a port, you know. And it’s a download-only game. As someone who makes games, I’m very happy that people are playing it again. It’s difficult to remake games. It’s not easy to sell a game once more. That’s why I’m so happy. I’m very happy. I think there are a lot of people who want to play the Switch one more time. I downloaded it too. It’s nice to be able to take it with you.
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