The world is very keen on Sega’s Yakuza series at the moment. The fantastic Yakuza 0 brought the series right back into people’s heads last year and it has been a bit of a love in ever since. Indeed, by the end of 2018, there will be four Yakuza games to play on PS4 and a couple on PC, with more on the way. It’s a great time to be a Yakuza fan but is there any chance of Yakuza Switch or Xbox One? Daisuke Sato spoke on the matter.
Sato argues on Gameblog (in French, translation provided by Kyrio for Nintendo Everything) that we likely will never see Yakuza on Switch. He says that it is not “the ideal platform on which to develop Yakuza games.” Sure. While one might argue this point in terms of the raw power on Nintendo Switch, more visually complex games have made their way to the hybrid machine. No, the issue, according to Sato, is that he believes people wouldn’t play Yakuza Switch. He does speak from experience. Yakuza 1 & 2 released on Wii U. It did not sell well at all. It never made it to the West, however. There may have been an eager market waiting for it (I wanted to play it, at least).
Sato’s comments, however, do make for better reading for any potential Yakuza Xbox One game. He argues that they “would consider” an Xbox game. The console’s “users might be more likely to be interested in a game like Yakuza“:
“To be realistic towards what happened, Yakuza 1 & 2 for Wii U was a significant failure. But our goal is still to develop cross-platform as much as possible, and we know that it brings an extra audience, that it allows us to attract more people. That being said, when it comes to Switch, I am convinced that it would not be the ideal platform on which to develop Yakuza games. Maybe the public is not expecting that kind of game on Switch. They may be used to different games. It may not be the ideal platform. Regarding Xbox One, we could consider it, knowing that Xbox One users might be more likely to be interested in a game like Yakuza. That could be an option.”
Sato’s comments regarding Yakuza Switch games are… harsh. Who’s to say that there isn’t an audience for a game without having tested the waters yet. More “mature” titles such as DOOM, Skyrim, and LA Noire have all sold well on the console. Oh well, at least it sounds as though Xbox players could get some Yakuza love.
