Yakuza 3 Marches West

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Hey everyone! Aaron Webber here again – some of you may remember me from the Valkyria Chronicles 2 blog post a while back. This time, I have the privilege of bringing you guys some more exciting news – news that I know many of you are about to be extremely excited about!

After months upon months of requests, a myriad of rumors, and even full campaigns that speak to the unparalleled dedication of the fans, we can finally speak those words that all of you have been waiting anxiously to hear. So, here they are:

Yakuza 3 is coming West.

Yakura 3 Coming to PS3

Featuring the original all-star Japanese voice cast and subtitled in English, Yakuza 3 chronicles the next steps in the life of the man once known as the Dragon of Dojima – Kiryu Kazuma.

As Kiryu works to begin a new life running an orphanage in Okinawa, the world he left behind in Tokyo also moves quickly. When the chairman of the Tojo clan is shot and the rivalry between the families plunges the city into chaos, even Okinawa is not far enough away to escape the grasp of the mysterious forces pulling the strings.

Yakura 3 Coming to PS3

Then, when one of Kiryu’s close friends in Okinawa is found with multiple gunshot wounds to the chest, things take a new turn for the worse. Driven to protect his friends, the Dragon is alive again – Kiryu returns to the dark city of Kamurocho, and will stop at nothing to find those responsible and give them his own taste of justice.

Releasing March 2010, the epic Yakuza saga continues, exclusively on the PlayStation 3.

Last but not least, we’d like to give special thanks to you guys, the Yakuza fans! Your passion and dedication has helped make this a reality, and we’d like to extend that thanks by letting you submit questions to the Yakuza 3 development team in Japan! To do so, just put *Dev Question* before typing your question here in the comments.

Until next time – we’ll have lots more news and in-depth looks at what Yakuza 3 has to offer very soon. Spread the word – Yakuza 3 is coming!

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273 Comments

11 Author Replies

  • @Korbei83

    Yeah,we’ll be thinking about you too and your final fartsy game while we are busy playing this amazing game!:p

  • Looks nice, now I just gotta get myself a copy of 1 & 2.

  • Meh. Yakuza is garbage. They still haven’t even fixed Yakuza 1 backwards compatibility on the 80GB PS3 despite them saying in the list that all problems are resolved (the problem hasn’t been fixed so I don’t know why it says it is plus it’s a game breaking freeze that you can’t get past).

    I’d rather have Shenmue 3 for PS3 not some lame Yakuza game. Yakuza would just get poor sales anyways so I don’t see why you just didn’t make Shenmue 3. Even if Shenmue 3 was Japan only I would import it but this Yakuza series is just complete garbage.

  • It’s about time. I’ll buy 2 copies to show my support and give SEGA the message to not deny us Kenzan or 4!

  • Awesome! I’ve been hoping this would make a local appearance since it was first shown. March is already a pretty packed month, but I’ll have it within a month of release regardless. :)

    Thank you for listening to the people, now let’s hope sales make it worthwhile to see it happen with future import titles.

  • Please put some muscle behind this one, I want to see this do well so Yakuza 4 can follow it. I’ll do my part as I have been since the series has started.

  • *Dev Question* How long is the main story?

    Also, would you compare Yakuza 3 to any other games out there right now?

  • March? Sorry, but I will have to buy this title after it is release. God of War, Final Fantasy, and GT5 are all coming out in March

  • Nice! Please bring Kenzan too or release it on PSN.

  • Well hot diggity damn, I am speechless! THANK YOU SEGA! I was worried we wouldn’t see Yakuza 3 over here in the west. I knew you guys wouldn’t Shenmue us again!

    I
    AM
    SO
    EFFIN’
    HAPPY!

    As a big Yakuza fan and on behalf of every SEGA fan across the world that never gave up on you guys, I once again say THANK YOU SEGA!

    I think it’s time to play through Yakuza 1 & 2 again in anticipation for Yakuza 3 in March.

  • *Dev Question* I always wanted to know why Kiryu’s face has gained weight, was this a design decision (due to aging), character modeler change, or the result of having more resources available for character models?

  • Finally!!!
    But why you guys picked an awful release date?!
    Anyway, nothing will stop me from adding this game to my library. Day one for sure.
    Thank you SEGA. :d

  • *Dev Question*

    The ad Yakuza 3 Ramen are tasty? we gonna have it in america?

  • Awesome news! Been wanting this since the announcement trailer!!
    Like everyone else says, you gotta pick a different release date. Push it back a few months. This game is going to get overlooked in March for sure.

  • glad the game is coming but terrible release date.

  • Guys, you just got a guaranteed sale.

    I picked up Ryu Ga Gouken Kenzan when I was in Tokyo earlier this year and I have to tell you, it pleases me to no end to see the official Yakuza sequel come to the West. Huzzah!

  • Freakin sweet God of War III and Yakuza 3 all in the same month…..I must be in heaven

  • This bundled with Kenzan! would have been awesome…. still Day 1

  • It’s about damned time… the game looks great, but I wasn’t prepared to learn Japanese for it, lol.

    That being said, I would love to see the Kenzan! game localized for the West as well… any possibility in that happening? Or at least the more cost-effective option of patching the Japanese version with English subtitles to make it more import-friendly? The U.S. simply does not get enough great samurai games… and from what I hear, Kenzan! was one of those.

  • Thank you, Sega. You don’t know how much this means to me, or maybe you do which is why you did it. Thank you again!

    • Oh, we know. ;) It just isn\’t always as easy as pushing the big red \”Make fans happy!\” button, but this is a good chance for us to show why the big red fan button can also produce great results.

  • THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!! I was hoping that the 3rd game would make its way West. Big fan of the first and i have yet to play the second game because of other issues but i will find it somehow. But anyway excited for the third game’s release and now i know i will be inside most of 2010. Especially March (GOWIII!).

  • *dev question*

    Please don’t delay Yakuza 4 too long, thats why they sell so bad here.

    Sorry used the dev question trick to get your attention.

  • Interesting choice of release dates.

    Thank you for bringing it to North America.

  • Why March? Doesn’t Sega know the biggest and baddest PS3 game of all time. comes out during the same month. don’t forget about Final Fantasy XIII! so why not April or May 2010 to give this title a chance. come on Sega support this game

  • Yes! Japanese dub! But it sucks that it’s also coming out on march… I don’t have enough money to get all these games D;

  • Dev Question-Will Kenzan also be recieving a US release?

    This is just awesome and to think I was about to import the japanese version like I did with Kenzan.

  • *Dev Question*

    Do they know I love them?

  • *Dev Question* Is there anything taken out from the original Japanese release compared to the US version?

  • This game sounds amazing

  • I LOVE THE YAKUZA SERIES!

  • Yay! Great news! Especially the direction you’ve taken with localization.

    Dev Question:
    Where did the idea to make this series of games come from, story-wise and design-wise?

  • best xmas present ever :) love the series, 10/10 with jp voices and eng subs also

    thanks Sega/Sony

  • Wow, I think i have like 6 games coming out all at once in the same time frame. I will purchase them all, but not sure when I will have time to play them.

  • I love the series Sega, but please try and get some English Actors for a English Dub before March. I would like to have both options available since i loved Yakuza 1’s English Dub.

  • Good news

  • OMG… why March?! Too many games on March!!

    I would love May or another month… awww… I will try to get it on March, since I want Yakuza 3, but I also want a lot of other games coming that month.

    I just hope you guys don’t get disappointing by the sales, since that month will be full of AAA tittles, Yakuza 3 been 1 obviously.

  • Thank you!

  • I’m going to trade my copy of GTA IV for this. Sure I might only get like $5. But at least I’ll get a true “Gangster” game mwahahahaha

  • All due in march
    God of war 3
    FFXIII
    and now this I’ll be broke again :)

  • Also, screw you guys at Sony at the same time THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

    Why? This is why.

    GoWIII – $65
    GT5 – $65
    WKC – $65
    Heavy Rain – $65
    FFXIII – $65
    BFBC2 – $65
    now Yakuza 3 – $65

    All in the span of less than 3 months. Totaling $455…

  • THIS IS THE GREATEST NEWS EVER!

    ok, now to read the post.

  • dude,March?…really?
    have you guys seen the March lineup do you want people to not buy this game.I say go for April or May or June just stay the hell away from March.

  • What about Trophies for Valkyria Chronicles, everyone wants it, and it’ll dramatically increase sales, may a VC: Complete Edition with Trophy support and all DLC included on the disc, I would buy that and so will many other, don’t try to avoid this question.

    • It\’s not something I can comment on right now, but do know that we\’re always reading the questions and continuing to pass on community feedback. :)

  • I am SO glad that you guys are keeping the original Japanese VO. Now let’s talk pre-order limited editions.

  • Chris, how do I give this post 6 stars?

  • *Devloper Question*

    Are there any plans to produce a Yakuza title for the PSP?

    I’m actually surprised one has not been made already considering the PSP’s popularity in Japan, but i would highly reccomend considering such a move.

    …it can only strenghn what is an already popular series, and would certanly benefit both Sega and Sony :)

  • My lord, Sega just brought a tear to my eye.
    So incredibly happy about this news. I’m actually playing through Yakuza 2 for the first time right now (played through 1 earlier this year), and loving every single minute of it.

    This announcement right here is my Gaming News of the Year.

  • Wow nice to see this here in the West!

  • *Dev question* will Yakuza 4 also arrive in North America in the future, regardless of Yakuza3’s sales? CAN’T WAIT

  • Amazing news! And you are bringing us the original Japanese voice cast! I can’t thank you enough. I am a little worried about your release date but nonetheless I will be buying this on day one. Thank you!

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