Yakuza as a series has seen a big upswing in popularity in the west (or rather, everywhere outside of Japan). And it’s a result of series finally getting back at localising the games in English, as well as other languages.
With the upcoming release of Yakuza: Like A Dragon, the Yakuza series will now be caught up with the Japanese releases- the game launched in January in Japan.
However, the next target for the localisation team hard at work in bringing the Yakuza series to a global audience, is of course, a global launch.
“The next thing that has to happen in order to grow the franchise is simultaneous shipping,” said Scott Strichart, Localization Producer at Sega in an interview with Inverse. “We can’t sit around and wait to launch a title like six to nine months after the Japanese release and expect it to have the same kind of impact.“
Strichart notes that for a global launch to happen, the localisation team need to cooperate even more with the developers, Ryu Ga Gotoku Studios, which involves adjusting timelines of the development work. But he believes that’s the natural next step forward for the series.
With a global launch, it saves a lot of headaches for English-speaking folks in Southeast Asia. The Yakuza games are always available in Traditional Chinese at the same time as the Japanese launch, but the English version will be another few months waiting. Or in the case of Yakuza 6- arrive earlier than expected.
Yakuza: Like A Dragon releases on November 10 for the PS4, PC, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S. It will be available on March 2, 2021 for the PS5. However, the Steam page is still not showing up in Asia regions, for some reason.