The Yakuza series is an often-overlooked franchise published by Sega that brings the beat ‘em up genre up to speed with modern games. On top of the fast-paced, over-the-top combat the Yakuza series has tons memorable characters.
The Yakuza series gained a bit more mainstream notoriety in the West following the release of Yakuza 0 and the subsequent releases of the two remastered Kiwami titles. Now, Xbox Game Pass is continuing to build up its Yakuza collection by adding Yakuza Kiwami 2 to the service.
Previously, the Yakuza series only found a home on the PlayStation family of consoles. From the original release of Yakuza back in 2005 all the way up to 2019, the series remained a PlayStation exclusive. However, Xbox announced that multiple Yakuza games were coming to Xbox and PC during the company’s XO19 event late last year. Though dates for the titles weren’t announced at the time, Xbox slowly began adding the titles to the Xbox Game Pass service over time.
Yakuza 0 was added to the service in February 2020, while Yakuza Kiwami was added a few months later in April. Now, the official Xbox Game Pass Twitter confirmed that Yakuza Kiwami 2 will arrive on the platform on July 30 to complete the first three games in the series. Having the first three games on one platform is an excellent way to get new players familiar with the series. Unfortunately, there is still no word on whether or not Xbox plans to bring over the Yakuza Remastered Collection that released on PS4 in early 2020 or Yakuza 6 to complete the series.
However, a bit of hope still remains for fans asking for the rest of the Yakuza titles to get brought over for Xbox. Yakuza: Like a Dragon’s release on Xbox was confirmed during its announcement and Xbox has not been shy about promoting the title. With any luck, this is a sign that Xbox is testing the waters to see if fans are showing any real interest in the series on Game Pass. Perhaps with enough positive feedback and reception, Xbox will work to complete Kiryu’s story on Xbox.
While Xbox players will have to wait until the end of July to get their hands on Yakuza Kiwami 2, the title is well worth the wait for those players who own Game Pass. The Yakuza series is brimming with charm in both its story and gameplay. Additionally, the lovable protagonist Kiryu makes the series’ story all the more engaging. Fans of the Tekken series might even see Kiryu in Tekken 7, according to tweets from the series’ producer. For now, though, Xbox players can enjoy the first three installments of Kiryu’s story through Xbox Game Pass.
Yakuza 0 and Yakuza Kiwami are available on Xbox One, with Yakuza Kiwami 2 releasing on Xbox One on July 30, 2020. All three titles are available now on PC and PS4.