They then befriend Jibanyan, a cat Yo-kai who haunts an intersection because he thinks his owner from when he was alive named Amy called him lame for getting hit by a truck.

The second main game in the series, Yo-kai Watch 2, was released in Japan on July 10, 2014, as two versions: Ganso and Honke.

[18][19] Bony Spirits and Fleshy Souls were localized in English and released on September 30, 2016, in the United States [20] and on April 7, 2017, in Europe.

Nate's story focuses on him and his family moving from Springdale to the United States, which is called BBQ in the localized version, to the fictional town of St. Peanutsburg, where new American-themed "Merican" (メリケン) Yo-kai are found.

A third version, Sukiyaki, was released in Japan on December 16, 2016, combining Sushi and Tempura into one game and adding additional features.

An enhanced version, Yo-kai Watch 4++, was later released as paid downloadable content and at retail for both the Switch and PlayStation 4 on December 5, 2019.

[30] The first two versions of the game, Aka Neko-dan (赤猫団, "Red Cat Troupe") and Shiro Inu-tai (白犬隊, "White Dog Corps"), were released on July 11, 2015.

A free expansion called Getto-gumi (月兎組, "Moon Rabbit Crew") was released on December 12, 2015, adding characters and settings featured in the second film, Yo-kai Watch: Enma Daiō to Itsutsu no Monogatari da Nyan!.

[31] A sequel, Yo-kai Watch Busters 2: Secret of the Legendary Treasure Bambalaya (妖怪ウォッチバスターズ2秘宝伝説バンバラヤー, Yōkai Wotchi Basutāzu 2 Hihō Densetsu Banbarayā), was released in two versions, (ソード, "Sword") and (マグナム, "Magnum"), on December 16, 2017.

The Data Carddass game Yo-kai Watch: Tomodachi UkiUkipedia (妖怪ウォッチ ともだちウキウキペディア) was first location tested in late December 2013, and debuted at the Next Generation World Hobby Fair Winter 2014 before being released in early 2014.

In August 2015, a collaboration with Ubisoft to release a special version of the Just Dance series was announced, set to feature songs from the anime's soundtrack.

On June 27, 2018, Level-5 and GungHo Online Entertainment announced in a special live stream the release of Yo-kai Watch World.

A shōjo manga series by Chikako Mori, titled Yo-kai Watch: Exciting Nyanderful Days (妖怪ウォッチ～わくわく☆にゃんだふるデイズ～, Yōkai Wotchi ~Wakuwaku Nyandafuru Deizu~), was serialized in Ciao magazine from December 27, 2013 to 2017.

A manga series based on Yo-kai Watch Blasters by Atsushi Ohba began serialization in CoroCoro Comic in June 2015[39] and ended in October of that year.

[42][43] It is more comedic in tone, and has several segments per episode, with most focusing on Nathan "Nate" Adams solving problems caused by Yo-kai.

The English theme song is sung by Jeff "Swampy" Marsh, best known as one of the creators of the fellow Disney show Phineas and Ferb.

[62][63] Dentsu Entertainment USA announced in April 2014 that they were seeking broadcast and merchandising partners in North America for the anime.

[64] The anime began broadcast as a 26-episode season on Disney XD on October 5, 2015,[65] with the official Yo-kai Watch YouTube channel posting episodes a month later.

In 2019, Disney XD removed the Yo-kai Watch anime from its lineup due to declining ratings; but eventually returned to the network in a weekend-only timeslot in January 2020, re-taking the place of a previous replacement, Inazuma Eleven: Ares.

The first season's first volume was released on DVD by NCircle Entertainment on February 26, 2019,[69] and one version of that set comes with a free comic book.

Cartoon Network also has it airing on their Portugal, Turkey, Poland and the Nordic, Central and Eastern Europe feeds, starting in Spring 2016.

In the original anime, all opening themes are performed by King Cream Soda, with lyrics by m.o.v.e vocalist Motsu.

Recent seasons of the anime have had opening and ending themes performed by Japanese YouTubers such as Soraru, Rinu, and Strawberry Prince.

[82] In July 2016, Square Enix's MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn held a special crossover event lasting until October which allowed players to gather Medals from existing in-game battles and exchange them for minions modeled after the franchise's titular Yo-kai as well as weapons inspired by them.

[83] In January 2018, McDonald's began offering Yo-kai Watch toys in US Happy Meals, alongside the much more popular Shopkins.

"While I did believe that it would get its break, honestly, to have it come this far, where the children of Japan would get so hopped-up on Yo-kai, to the point where all the goods would sell out, is something I didn't expect.

Ken Hōri of The Business Journal and Ollie Barder of Forbes thought it was mainly distribution issues; products that were ordered from the summer vacation were over stocked, because of the six-month waiting period for copyright approvals.

[87] Unlike in its native Japan where it experienced a short period of great popularity, Yo-kai Watch had an overall underwhelming performance in the United States.

Although it got off to a promising start in that region, with the original game selling at least 400,000 units there as of 2016,[111] the sequel, Yo-kai Watch 2, sold less than 200,000 copies in comparison.

Meanwhile, Disney XD's English broadcast of the anime series has estimated only 100,000-300,000 viewers per episode, and was removed from the network's schedule in 2017.