Aside from a new Shenmue game, I can’t think of another title SEGA fans have been clamoring for more in recently than getting Yakuza 5 localized and released in the West. However, series creator Toshihiro Nagoshi recently told Edge that it doesn’t look like it’s going to happen anytime soon.
“We don’t have a plan for that at the moment,” he said. The Yakuza Studio team is a fixed size, and we have to choose between forging ahead with the next game or localizing the one that just came out. This time the size of the game was so large, so rather than localizing that game we chose to focus our manpower on the new game. But we get asked about it a lot. We get lots of complaints!”
While it appears Nagoshi is looking past Yakuza 5, there remains some hope that Yakuza Restoration could be released outside of Japan. “I’d definitely love to reach the whole word if we have the manpower and money to do it,” he added.
We learned during Tokyo Game Show that SEGA has no plans to release Phantasy Star Nova in the West, and now we’re adding Yakuza 5 to the list. It’s a sad thought when you realize some of SEGA’s most beloved franchises aren’t going to be released outside Japan. The jury is still out on Phantasy Star Online 2, but that isn’t looking to promising right now either.
