Yakuza Became a Global Sensation Thanks to PC Gamers

The global rise of the Yakuza series owes much to PC players. They were key in pushing the franchise beyond years of limited recognition outside Japan.

Masayoshi Yokoyama, head of Ryu Ga Gotoku, noted that the PC audience holds particular significance for the studio.

“If memory serves, we first entered the PC market with Yakuza 0 roughly eleven years ago. Prior to that, our games were released only on PlayStation and were available exclusively in Japanese, aimed at the domestic market,” Yokoyama said in an interview.

“Yakuza was originally created by Japanese developers for Japanese players, so we did not expect it to gain international attention. However, once we properly localized the games and made them accessible worldwide, the PC community embraced them enthusiastically. That support allowed the studio to grow and set us on a path toward global expansion.”

Yokoyama emphasized the importance of the PC audience for both the studio and the franchise:

“I believe we have reached our current level because of these players. Going forward, I hope to continue delivering engaging and exciting projects for this platform.”

Source: iXBT.games