SEGA announced plans to bring Yakuza to mobile a while ago in the form of Yakuza Online. After a pre-registration campaign, it finally released across PC and mobile platforms in Japan as a free to play release. Unlike the Yakuza games that most fans of the franchise will have played on PlayStation consoles, Yakuza Online features Kasuga Ichiban who is the new face of the series.
As with most Japanese mobile games, the question of localisation for the West is always something that remains a mystery until a random announcement. So far, SEGA has localised Dx2 Shin Megami Tensei Liberation that even had a Bayonetta collaboration event. There have been no indications of anything for a localisation of Yakuza Online yet but a new interview gives us a glimmer of hope. Otaquest and Exile Sekai interviewed SEGA’s Toshihiro Nagoshi about all things Yakuza and asked him about a Western release of Yakuza Online. He said he would like to see it released in the West but could not make any promises. This may not seem like much to many people but this is the first indication that SEGA would like to see it released in the West.
Given the recent popularity surge of Yakuza games that began with the PS4 Yakuza 0 (that was my game of the year for 2017), SEGA might actually localise Yakuza Online since they even brought the franchise to PC last year. Have you played Yakuza Online yet using a Japanese iTunes account or sideloading on Android or are you waiting for a possible English release?
[Source: Otaquest]
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I've been playing it sideloaded on Android, and it's a lot of fun. I'd really like to see it get an English translation, especially since Ryu ga Gotaku Studio has indicated that it is actually the next game in-line story-wise after Yakuza 6, and not a spin-off. A lot of popular characters return, and each character has their own sidestory. Plus, it's very much a Yakuza game with the inclusion of cabaret clubs and the M Store.
i need this please come to the west
I swear, Yakuza: Like a Dragon is gonna be a bust. But I would most definitely approve of Yakuza Online. And I want Yakuza Studios to have Kenzan, Ishin, Kurohyous 1 and 2, Dead Souls, and Yakuzas 3-5 to all have the Kiwami treatment for the PS4 and have them sent to the West. Because Ichiban Kasuga is that same sorry ass no good for nothing kinslayer who's name is Japanese for "Snake Mountain". Akira Nishikiyama. I wanna have his voice actor, Kazuhiro Nakaya dead and dismembered by real yakuzas. And have Junichi Suwabe voice Ichiban Kasuga instead because I liked him as Lars Alexandersson from Tekken. And Kazuma Kiryu, he is an ageless Super Saiyan. Matter of fact, he is immortal. He trained with Kenshiro from Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise and Goku from Dragonball Z. He's highly ranked than Super Saiyan Blue, he's an Ultra Saiyan. Mastered Ultra Instinct. And Kiryu is the Yakuza franchise. I wanna see Yakuza Dead Souls 2. Have the Yakuza Boys kick some zombie ass and take names once again. Not just in Tokyo, but in Osaka, Hokkaido, Sendai, Kyoto, Nagoya, Fukuoka, all over Japan. And what's making the people of Japan turn into zombies is the coronavirus. Kiryu, Majima, Akiyama, Saejima, Date, and Haruka. Kamurocho's Sensational Six.