Toshihiro Nagoshi, the ex-chief creative officer of Sega and the person behind the Yakuza (Like a Dragon) series, shared in a recent interview on Weekly Ochiai that Sega initially rejected the first game in the series because of its theme.
The Yakuza series, now called Like a Dragon, has gained critical acclaim for its focus on the Japanese criminal underworld. However, this focus on serious themes conflicted with Sega’s market strategy at the time.
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According to Nagoshi, the Japanese gaming industry had difficulty creating successful games for the worldwide market in the early 2000s. As a result, Sega and other companies began to focus on making games that would appeal to a large international audience. Nagoshi recognized this change in thinking, but he was concerned about creative ideas being weakened by the emphasis on broad appeal.
When Nagoshi first proposed Yakuza, Sega rejected it. The game’s mature content, like violence and its focus on a criminal setting, didn’t align with Sega’s goal of appealing to a wide audience. Nagoshi, though, stayed positive about Yakuza’s potential. He thought the game’s strong theme could still bring commercial success, even though it wasn’t aimed at a wide audience. However, it was hard to persuade Sega of this, as there wasn’t a clear example of a Yakuza-themed game becoming widely successful.
“Of course, it was flat out rejected. After all, it was completely contrary to what I mentioned earlier about attracting the masses. Children wouldn’t be able to play it, and it wasn’t catered to women nor overseas audiences. In this sense, there was no way for it to be approved without resistance.”
Toshihiro Nagoshi
Nagoshi’s persistence paid off in the end. After several attempts and what he described as a strong push, Sega eventually approved the first Yakuza game. Development faced challenges beyond Sega’s initial concerns. Nagoshi also stressed the importance of ensuring the game, while containing violence, wouldn’t glorify it. He aimed for Yakuza to be a game that encouraged players to value survival and perseverance.
Yakuza became a hit, selling over a million copies. A budget version released after the launch also contributed to the high sales. This success quickly led to the release of the sequel, Yakuza 2, the following year. So it all worked out in the end.
