The Yakuza series was welcomed with open arms by Japanese players in 2005 and has long been shunned by a large part of Western players. And now that the series has gained popularity in Japan, it’s growing in the west. For SEGA, what made its strength in Japan at the beginning was what is currently enabling it to break through in the rest of the world.
Also read: Yakuza: A book in French to learn all about the saga and how it came about
SEGA just got its “Integrated report 2020“in which he describes in detail his financial results for the 2020 financial year ending on March 31, and provides information on his current situation. The Japanese publisher announces that the Yakuza series, which will turn 15 in 2020, has surpassed 14 million copies sold worldwide.
For information, SEGA announced in its 2018 fiscal year document that Yakuza had passed the 11 million copies sold worldwide. A quick and at least complex calculation shows that the publisher has sold at least three million additional yakuza games in two years. Which means, that More than 21% of the total sales of the games in the series were made in the past two years.
Ykoso Japan
To justify the recent growth in revenue for series games, SEGA talks about the attraction that Japanese-themed games are having on Western gamers. According to House of Sonic, niche games can use this pull to generate consistent sales. SEGA also states that the Yakuza series is getting very good reviews from foreigners, i.e. non-Japanese (also note that SEGA puts Persona in the same basket as Yakuza in their review).
In order for the series to grow in popularity, SEGA intends to continue offering its episodes on multiple platforms and focusing on dematerialized sales. (Based on our information, an important part of SEGA’s marketing strategy for the game was to encourage players to purchase a dematerialized version of Yakuza: Like a Dragon instead of the boxed version.)
in the another document just published by SEGA, this time dedicated to the results of the current financial year (hence financial year 2021), The Japanese publisher announces that the Japanese and Asian versions of Yakuza: Like a Dragon (Ryu ga Gotoku 7), which was released on PS4 last January, have passed 450,000 copies distributed. A priori, these numbers are at least partially included in the above sum. Apparently, Yakuza: Like a Dragon western sales, which were released on November 10th, are not counting.
What do you think of these numbers? When did you discover the Yakuza series? What do you think ? What platform do you play it on? Do give us your thoughts in the comments below.
