Speaking during an interview with Weekly Ochiai, Toshihiro Nagoshi, Sega’s former chief creative officer, revealed that the publisher outright rejected the original two concepts for the first Yakuza game.
Nagoshi-san explained that Sega was looking to get success on a global basis during the early 2000s, and that the concept for Yakuza was shot down as it was felt it didn’t have mass market appeal.
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.
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In the end, Sega gave the green light for Yakuza but it took at least three pitches from Nagoshi for the project to be given the go-ahead.
The original Yakuza was released for the PS2 in Japan in 2005 and arrived in the west the following year, complete with a full English deb. SEGA would later remake the game in the form of Yakuza Kiwami for the PS4 and PC, expanding on the game’s narrative and introducing the Majima Everywhere feature.
[Source – Automaton]