Part of the Yakuza franchises’ most recent success can be attributed to the last two years, when the series gained a huge spike in popularity. Out of the Yakuza series’ 15-year lifetime, over 20 percent of the series growth has taken place since 2018 with a total of about three million copies. There is no explicit reasoning for this sudden spike in growth, other than possibly the success of the most recent installments into the Yakuza franchise with titles such as Yakuza: Like a Dragon.
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Despite its growing success, many gamers have speculated that the Yakuza series popularity would not be able to keep up with the changing times in the video game industry. However, Sega credits the games’ success to its depiction of Japanese culture as the biggest selling point for the games.
Seemingly overnight, the humorous approach to gameplay has become one of the series’ biggest talking point. Fans can not get over some of the insane side quests in the Yakuza series; they help keep the community’s attention on the game. Sega said the “made in Japan” style of content in the Yakuza games are highly praised by overseas users, similar to how the Persona franchise has found a home with audiences.
Sega’s report also claims that moving forward, the company will have to keep treating the games as hidden gems by targeting a niche market. Sega’s business model relies on releasing the Yakuza games on several platforms and services, using digital distribution to reach that target audience across the seas. Rather than releasing the hard copy game to a handful of countries, Sega credits PC as the star player in the Yakuza series’ worldwide business strategy.
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Source: PC Gamer
