Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio director Masayoshi Yokoyama has talked about the massive success of the Yakuza series in the West in recent times and on Game Pass.
In an interview with Twinfinite, the series producer was asked about the successes the series has seen in recent times ever since they decided to go multiplatform.
“In terms of audience, I think the West has especially increased. It’s hard to tell if that’s thanks to multiplatform or if it’s because we changed the genre and protagonist from Yakuza: Like a Dragon as a new series, or both, ” said Masayoshi Yokoyama.
“Personally, I do think subscriptions like Game Pass, allowing people to play the previous games over the years, have contributed largely to the increase in audience.”
The Yakuza series gradually dropped on Xbox Game Pass. It debuted on the Xbox consoles as a launch title on Game Pass which were available to all subscribers on both PC and consoles. Ever since then, every new game has been made for multiplatform including the upcoming Yakuza Ishin and Yakuza 8.
The Yakuza series is also available to play now on Sony’s Game Pass competitor, PS Plus Extra. These games can also be played on the Game Pass subscription through xCloud, PC, or Xbox consoles.
Once upon a time, the sales of the franchise were so low that Sega started to stop translating them into English for the West. While they continued to release new Yakuza games, it was not until the launch of Yakuza Zero followed by Yakuza Kiwami in addition to Yakuza 6, that the series started to enjoy more mainstream success. It is also available on PC through Game Pass or Steam.