Yakuza Producer Doesn’t Think the Series Is a Good Fit For Nintendo Switch

So you may have missed the news a little while back that the first two Yakuza games were being released for the Wii U (sorry, only in Japan). There's probably a good reason for that -- the HD update reportedly didn't go as well as planned.

Granted, it was the Wii U and not the PlayStation 4; but that failure apparently has repercussions on Nintendo fans ever seeing a chapter in the Yakuza series on their beloved console.

French site Gameblog recently had a chance to speak with Yakuza producer Daisuke Sato about whether or not we would see the series on the Nintendo Switch. After all, that system has a new lease on life, reversing the problems that affected the Wii U so much.

Alas, it doesn't sound like Sato is convinced. As translated by Nintendo Everything, he noted, "To be realistic towards what happened, Yakuza 1 & 2 for Wii U was a significant failure. But our goal is still to develop cross-platform as much as possible, and we know that it brings an extra audience, that it allows us to attract more people. That being said, when it comes to Switch, I am convinced that it would not be the ideal platform on which to develop Yakuza games. Maybe the public is not expecting that kind of game on Switch. They may be used to different games. It may not be the ideal platform. Regarding Xbox One, we could consider it, knowing that Xbox One users might be more likely to be interested in a game like Yakuza. That could be an option."

It'd be interesting to see how Xbox One ports of Yakuza games would fare, opening up a new audience for the franchise. But that's not entirely confirmed just yet. For now, though, PC and PS4 seem to be the focus. Yakuza 0 is set to arrive on PC starting on August 1, while Yakuza Kiwami 2 hits the PlayStation 4 on August 28. So there's still a lot happening with the series -- just not in Nintendo's world.

(Hat tip to Game Informer for the scoop!)