Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio director extremely pleased with Yakuza Kiwami Switch sales

Yakuza Kiwami has only been on Switch for a few days, but SEGA subsidiary Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio seems to be ecstatic with how the port is performing in terms of sales.

Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio director Masayoshi Yokoyama was speaking about the release during a live stream yesterday. We’re going off of a rough translation here, but he indicated that the game is “selling like hotcakes.”

Here’s what was said regarding Yakuza Kiwami’s initial Switch sales during the broadcast:

“First of all, I heard that Kiwami is selling like hotcakes. That’s good. The executives of the company were predicting the number of units. I missed it by a long shot. I think I looked at it a bit too conservatively. Kato, the marketing manager, guessed it, but it was very exciting. It was 20 years ago when I made the first Yakuza game. And then it was changed to Kiwami, but even Kiwami had already been released, hadn’t it? It’s been out for a long time, and I thought it was something that people all over the world had touched, but this time, with the Amazon Prime drama and all the other things that happened, it’s on Switch. Well, it’s already a port, you know. And it’s a download-only game. As someone who makes games, I’m very happy that people are playing it again. It’s difficult to remake games. It’s not easy to sell a game once more. That’s why I’m so happy. I’m very happy. I think there are a lot of people who want to play the Switch one more time. I downloaded it too. It’s nice to be able to take it with you.”

Switch has been out for well over seven years, but SEGA only just now released a Yakuza game on Switch. It’s unclear if the company is planning any additional support for the console, but the series could have a larger presence on Nintendo’s next platform.

Back in 2022, Yokoyama mentioned how Yakuza on Switch felt like a mismatch. He wasn’t sure if it made sense 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.” Ultimately though, SEGA decided to give things a shot – and based on this bit of sales news, the company should be happy with the decision to pursue a port.

Yakuza Kiwami is available on the Switch eShop now. A physical release is coming later, which you can read about here. Thanks to Install Base for today’s news.