In an interview with Famitsu this week, Sega’s Shuji Utsumi revealed that Yakuza: Like a Dragon was the most successful title in the series internationally when it comes to sales. The main reason for this success comes down to its release: Like a Dragon was the first game from the franchise to hit multiple platforms on the same day. In the past, Yakuza titles were limited to Sony platforms and nothing else.
This has led Sega to re-evaluate how it handles international releases. We’re already seeing that change with Lost Judgment, a Yakuza spin-off that is hitting both Japan and the US on the same day, but it seems Sega isn’t limiting it to in-house franchises. Atlus titles are also up for evaluation on whether or not they’ll get multi-platform releases and simultaneous international releases.
Utsumi specifically mentions the Persona series, which has mostly found a home on PlayStation platforms in the past. The recently released Persona 5 Strikers was available on PC, Switch, and PS4 when it came out and has probably seen an influx of sales that Sega didn’t expect. Persona 4 Golden also rocketed up the Steam sales charts when it came to PC last year, likely pushing Sega to reconsider where it releases titles.
What this all means is that Sega isn’t going to stick with the same strategies going forward. I can’t say for certain if that means all Atlus titles will expand beyond Sony platforms, but it certainly bodes well for the chances of a Switch port for Persona 5. We may even see Yakuza end up on Switch.
Source: Read Full Article