Following its recent launch on the Nintendo Switch, Yakuza Kiwami is reportedly “selling like crazy” on the hybrid platform.
This comes from the comments of the head of Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio, Masayoshi Yokoyama, on YouTube (Thanks, VGC). According to Yokoyama, he assumed that many people had already experienced Kiwami before on other platforms, so perhaps they were looking too conservatively at potential Switch sales:
“So it looks like Kiwami is selling like crazy. I’m so glad. You know, the company’s leaders were predicting a sale, but I was far from it. I guess I was looking at it too conservatively.
“The whole thing was really exciting. But yeah, this is great. It’s been 20 years since we made the first Yakuza game. And now, even though it’s rebranded to Kiwami, we already released Kiwami a while back, right? I thought it had been around for a while and people around the world had already experienced it.
“This time, though, with the drama on Amazon Prime and other factors coming together, it finally made it to the Switch. Although, technically, it’s just a port. And it’s only available as a digital download. But still, the fact that people willing to play it again, which makes me very happy as a game developer.”
He went on to state that he downloaded the game himself on Switch and is looking forward to playing it on the go:
“Remakes are difficult to do. It’s not easy to sell the same game a second time. So I’m really relieved. I feel great about it. I think a lot of people will enjoy it on Switch. I even downloaded it myself! Being able to carry it around is really nice.”
Perhaps this could be an indication that more Yakuza ports could be considered for the Switch in the future. We’d love to see the entire series on Nintendo’s platform, though we doubt the likes Like a dragon: endless wealth, Judgmentand upcoming ones Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii it might be a better fit for the eventual successor to the Switch.
