Yakuza was always a niche series, but it had a loyal following of fans, myself included. Even though the previous 4 core Yakuza titles, plus spin off title Yakuza: Dead Souls, have been localized, Yakuza 5 may not be localized. Yakuza 2 was the first title to be released in the west using only subtitles in cutscenes, instead of hiring new voice actors. This was due to how infamously bad the voice work in the original Yakuza was.
Series creator, and chief creative officer on new title Yakuza Ishin, Toshihiro Nagoshi has told Edge there are no plans to localize Yakuza 5 yet. This is due to development of Yakuza Ishin taking up all of the studios time and effort. He stated “We don’t have a plan for that at the moment. The Yakuza Studio team is a fixed size, and we have to choose between forging ahead with the next game or localising the one that just came out“. Yakuza Ishin is also unconfirmed for a western release.
What do you think? Do you enjoy the series and want to play 5 and Ishin? Let us know in the comments.