Kazuma Could Be A Kindergarten Teacher In The Next Yakuza. For Now He's Shooting Up The Undead.

It typically deals with family, politics and friendships. There's some exaggeration to its narrative for sure (it's a video game!), but on the whole it's a pretty grounded franchise. Yakuza: Of The End introduces zombies, however. That's kind of unusual for a franchise so set in reality. So why on Earth is it happening?

“We want to spread the Yakuza franchise into different genres,” Yakuza producer Masayoshi Kikuchi stated.

“We don’t want to stop the Yakuza franchise. In terms of making entertainment, we’re deadly serious,” Kikuchi told Kotaku. “We want to have the ability to branch out and create new game experiences [with Yakuza.] We’ve done it in the past with Yakuza Kenzan, a samurai themed game. Making differently themed games is our challenge to create new types of entertainment.

“For all we know, Kazuma Kiryu might become a kindergarten teacher in the next game."

But could Kazuma ever replace Sonic as SEGA's mascot? After all, the Yakuza games are mighty popular in Japan just now.

“We definitely are trying to make that happen,” Kikuchi said. “But I’m not the company president. I’m not sure if Kiriyu will ever replace Sonic.”

We weren't impressed with Yakuza's introduction of zombies at first, but having seen the TGS trailer we cannot wait. The game's shot straight to the top of our most wanted.