On December 8, 2005, a game by Sega was released in Japan, destined for greatness. However, at that time, they had no idea of what was about to be unleashed: 19 years have passed, 9 main games, and a good number of spinoffs and variations. And among all of them, they have sold over 21 million units. However, as we now know, initially, they were on the verge of canceling it before even having a chance.
Brawling in Dotonbori
Apparently, Sega didn’t have confidence in ‘Yakuza’ (or, as it’s called now, ‘Like a dragon’). The problem? Of course, the adult theme, which prevented children from playing it and therefore was immediately rejected. It’s important to note that at that time Japanese games had stopped dominating the world and the studio wanted titles that would appeal to the widest possible audience, that could be sold at any time and to anyone.
And that wasn’t ‘Yakuza‘. Think about it for a moment: it is a game that is inherently Japanese and not intended at all for audiences from other countries, it was not intended for women or children, and it certainly didn’t come cheap: approving it was commercial suicide. In the end, it was a relative hit in Japan and sold over a million copies on PS2. Now it’s its own empire.
However, Toshihiro Nagoshi needed to present the game three times to Sega to obtain their approval, and he was forced to emphasize that this is not a story of violence between yakuza, but rather that of a poor man trying to live day by day. A piece of advice: if you ever go to Dotonbori, try at least not to hit anyone. It’s not as easy as you think after a few hours of playing.
