Sega’s fiscal year is coming to a close, and it has released a report detailing just how much of an impact Yakuza: Like a Dragon has had for the publisher.
Despite the Yakuza series' continued growth in sales, selling roughly 3 million games in about two years, Sega still considers Yakuza a niche franchise. Sega attributes much of the game’s western success to the series’ in-depth depiction of Japanese life and culture. That may change, however, if the series' critical and commercial success continues to boom at its present pace.
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In a new report released last week, Sega named Yakuza: Like A Dragon as one of three games that boosted its third-quarter sales. The report specified that its western release is what provided that boost, alongside Sega’s ever-popular Football Manager and Shin Megami Tensei 3 Nocturne HD Remaster. The quarter in which Like A Dragon released is one of Sega’s strongest in the past three fiscal years.
While the report does not provide specific sales numbers, Yakuza: Like A Dragon must have sold well. Like A Dragon did not crack the US top 20 sales charts in November when it released, or in December, but it must have done well by Sega’s standards.
Like A Dragon was also very well-received, garnering scores like a 5/5 from TheGamer and an average of 83 on Metacritic. Many considered it not only one of the best entries in the franchise, but a great jumping-on point for those unfamiliar with the series.
Yakuza series creator Toshihiro Nagoshi recently made a shift within Sega to become a creative director, something that could be taken as a sign that Sega wants to hone in more on what makes Yakuza work so well in order to further boost its success.
In terms of what is next for the Yakuza franchise, Yakuza spin-off Judgement is coming to PS5 and Xbox Series X/S with some performance upgrades. The 2018 murder-mystery has players taking on the role of Detective Takayuki Yagami investigating a series of murders of yakuza members.
Surely there will be more Yakuza games in the future, but what fans can expect is unknown at this point. Some suspect that another Kiwami may be next. The Kiwami games are remakes of the earlier titles in the main series, with remakes Yakuza 1 and 2 having already been made. Still, others suspect that another spin-off like Judgment may come, given the updated rerelease of Judgment. Regardless, the future for the Yakuza series is bright.
Yakuza: Like a Dragon is currently available for PC, PS4, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. A PS5 port of the game is in the works.
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