Contrary to previous reports, Sega has not abandoned the idea of bringing mob epic Yakuza 3 to the West. In fact, the game “remains a big point of discussion” for the company.
Sometimes you just can’t believe what you read on the internet. Though the internet had it on good word (straight from Sega) that there wasn’t a chance in hell that Sega would be localizing its big-in-Japan mobster action game Yakuza 3 to the West due to the lackluster performance of previous titles in the series, well, the internet was wrong.
“Yakuza 3 is not cancelled – and the possibility for localizing it does, in fact, still exist,” Sega’s Aaron Webber commented on a PlayStation blog post for Valkyria Chronicles II‘s US release. “The original news story that went around about Yakuza 3 being declined for the US was false, and localizing the game still remains a big point of discussion for many people here at SEGA, and especially those of us on SEGA’s community team.”
So Yakuza 3 isn’t just not canceled, it’s being talked about in a major way in some parts of the Sega headquarters. That’s good news, but don’t get your hopes too high just yet. “I know it’s far from an announcement, but I just felt you should know that the chance does still exist,” Webber said.
Yakuza 3 was released in Japan this February exclusively on the PS3, and performed pretty damn well on the sales charts and with critics too. The series, which last appeared in the West last year with Yakuza 2 on PS2, hasn’t really caught on in a major way over here, with Yakuza 2 only selling some 40,000 copies. It does command some following though, and with the cult success of Valkyria Chronicles translating to long-term strong sales, perhaps Sega will think it can do the same with Yakuza. Fingers crossed.
