Yakuza Producer Explains Why Series Isn’t Coming to Nintendo Switch

The Yakuza series likely won’t be coming to Nintendo Switch, according to one of the producers of the franchise. Yakuza is one of the most beloved Japanese franchises on the market as it consistently delivers great games with well-told stories, charming characters, and absurd yet fun gameplay. The series has been running strong for nearly two decades after getting its start on the PlayStation 2 where it remained as an exclusive for quite some time. It wasn’t until the 2020s that Xbox was able to get the series on Xbox One and later, the Xbox Series X|S. This turned out to be a massive deal as it opened the franchise up to a new audience and a console that historically doesn’t have the best relationship with Japanese games. 

Many wondered if this meant the Yakuza franchise would be expanding to all platforms, but it seems like there’s at least one console it won’t be coming to. In an interview with GameSpot, Ryu Ga Gotoku studio head and Yakuza executive producer Masayoshi Yokoyama stated that the “underground feeling” of the series contests with the family friendly nature of the Nintendo Switch. Although it’s not impossible for the series to come to Switch eventually, it seems unlikely at the moment.

“Do we want to put a title like this where we’re going around and picking a fight with the world and doing all this Yakuza stuff, on a Switch,” Yokoyama said. “We still kind of think of ourselves as people of the night world, right? We don’t want to be like walking around the day with everybody else. Like for us, it’s kind of showing this kind of underground feeling. I think the underground kind of feeling is what we want to do.”

Of course, Yakuza would be far from the first M-rated or distinctly adult game on Nintendo Switch. Last year, Rockstar brought the PS2-era Grand Theft Auto trilogy to Nintendo Switch and games like Doom, Wolfenstein, and Bayonetta have all done well on the platform despite being incredibly violent and risque. Whether that will ever change Yokoyam’s mind remains to be seen.

Do you want Yakuza to come to Nintendo Switch? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @Cade_Onder.