Sega Talks Yakuza As A Multiplatform Series, On Possibilities Of More Atlus Games Coming To PC

The Yakuza series has made its mark on PC in recent years and Sega now considers it a “multi-platform series” so we can expect to see more in the future, and possibly more games from Atlus following Catherine Classic. Sega’s executive vice president of publishing, John Clark, had more to say about bringing games to PC in an interview at E3 2019. [Thanks, PC Gamer.]

John Clark says“To make a quality PC port is the key” and that Sega has prioritized games such as Yakuza that have a pre-existing audience. Yakuza has been successful on PC in Japan, where it resonated well, so we can expect to see more Yakuza on PC going forward.

On Yakuza as a multiplatform series:

John Clark: “It’s in the mindset of [Sega] Japan and Europe now, and the US, to think of it as a multi-format offering. That’s not saying everything’s going to be multi-format, but we’re able now to consider that data.”

While Sega’s titles in Valkyria Chronicles 4 and Shining Resonance Refrain had simultaneous launches on consoles and PC, that wasn’t the case with the three Yakuza games released on PC so far:

John Clark: “With those two titles, we now have the ability to evaluate a multi-format simultaneous launch against more of a phased process that we see with Yakuza. That’ll be evaluated and the best way to launch titles will result from that.”

Atlus games are handled differently from other Sega games, but with the success of Yakuza and other titles we might see more from the Persona developers come to PC in the future following the steps of Catherine Classic which was their first PC release back in January. According to Clark Catherine Classic also performed well and he hopes its just the first step:

John Clark: “Everyone’s really pleased with it; we’re pleased with it, it’s performed well and the audience is happy. I think for us it was always step one. Let’s launch Catherine, which then gives the IP owners and business owners at Atlus—who are in their first foray into the PC market—the ability to evaluate the success and how that can fit in for their future road map. I’m pleased to say they now have that information, so they’re able to evaluate it. For us it was a positive experience, and hopefully they’ll share that and consider it in their own road map.”