10 Awesome Video Games Betrayed By Terrible Marketing

Ever since 2001’s Grand Theft Auto III popularized “sandbox” games, it seems like every subsequent open-world title has been obligatorily compared to it. One of the most egregious examples of that is the publicity behind the original Yakuza from 2005.

Yakuza was inherently distinctive due to its locales, aesthetic, tone, and gameplay features (such as unique modes, leveling up abilities, combat QTEs, and beat ‘em up fighting flair). Plus, it set itself apart with individualized secondary activities (such as fooling around in casinos and arcades) and a fuller emphasis on culturally rich storytelling.

It’s a shame, then, that when it was brought to the United States in 2006, Yakuza was frequently discussed (and advertised) as a Japanese GTA. 

Not only did journalists and commentators champion it as such—which publisher SEGA didn’t exactly mind—but certain American trailers and print announcements indirectly framed it more as a knockoff than a singular creation.

Rather than highlight its specialness, the marketing prioritized Yakuza’s GTA-like reckless violence, criminal underworld glorifications, and other transgressive attributes. Additionally, the English voiceovers amplified the profanity and stereotypical gangster dialects, as well as turned complex protagonist Kazuma Kiryu into a superficially generic mobster.