Hell has frozen over. The popular violent Yakuza series is coming to Nintendo Switch. Yakuza Kiwamia remake of the first game in the franchise, as announced today .
This is notable because the Yakuza series is known for being mature and morally ambiguous, and Nintendo doesn’t always like that sort of thing. Masayoshi Yokoyama, head of the development team behind the series, Yakuza games will never come to a Nintendo console.
“First of all, will our games work on Switch is probably the first question,” he said. “And when it comes to the Switch, it’s kind of a system for a younger audience. So do we want to put a title on the Switch where we go and fight the world and do all this Yakuza stuff?
It seems the answer to that last question is yes. Yakuza Kiwami it was first released in 2016 for PS4 and Xbox One, although there was a version that ran on PS3. Given the power of the Switch, it should be able to handle a remastered PS3 port.
As for the console’s kid-friendly image, that hasn’t entirely changed over the years, but the Switch has made serious inroads with older gamers. The console has been home to all kinds of mature and violent fare since 2016. Suffering for Red Dead Redemption and Mortal Kombat 1.
The Yakuza franchise is on the rise. Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealthh, continuation of the 2020s Yakuza: Like a Dragon, when it was released earlier this year. There is also a franchise TV show October 24. Wait a minute. It is the same day Yakuza Kiwami Nintendo is hitting the eShop. Gotta love this sweet, sweet corporate synergy.
