SEGA revealed that Yakuza Kiwami is coming to the Nintendo Switch this October, marking the first game in the Like a Dragon series to get a Switch version.
When the series began, Yakuza was pretty much a PlayStation-exclusive series. This changed in recent years though as the Yakuza games have since gotten simultaneous releases on PC and Xbox starting with Yakuza: Like a Dragon (aka Yakuza 7).
Now though, it’s time for Switch players to experience this beloved series from RGG Studio. Fittingly, the first Switch game is Yakuza Kiwami, the 2016 remake of the original Yakuza game. While it would’ve been cool to see Yakuza 0 be the first Switch series entry (given that it’s our pick as the best starting point), Yakuza Kiwami is still a good way to kick off the Like a Dragon journey for anyone new to the series,
Of course, given that this is a Switch version, players shouldn’t expect it to run as well as it could on consoles and PC. So, it will be interesting to see if Nintendo’s hardware can hold up even with the expected downgrades in fidelity and resolution.
With this release, the hope is that RGG Studio will release more Yakuza games on the Switch. Sure, the Dragon Engine games are probably out of the question (including Yakuza Kiwami 2 and the other recent releases), but something like Yakuza 0 may be able to run on the Switch given that they run on the same engine.
Yakuza Kiwami will be available via Nintendo eShop on October 25, 2024. For now, there’s no word yet on physical release plans.