Yakuza 5 Devs Have No Plans For Western Release

[Xenominim]

It is funny how companies spend all this money developing these games and then limit themselves marketwise with things like this. While I'm sure it's possible to lose money if the game undersells by a huge margin I would think this series at least is well enough known to avoid that. Curious to know if there's more to it than just the costs of voice acting and printing a new series of discs/packaging which is behind this.

That said, while I don't begrudge anyone else liking this series, I got Yakuza 4 used and 'played' it for maybe an hour and a half before I gave up and returned it. Between this, Metal Gear, and Final Fantasy series I'm becoming increasingly convinced that the Japanese have no word in their language for 'editor.'

 

[Penguinplayer]

I was waiting for this to get localized but guess I will just import it now and study japanese. I already bought the Genki books and other study material, now if only I wasn't so lazy.

 

[Rebel_Raven]

Wait, do my eyes decieve me, or is there a woman amongst the playable characters finally?*Checks Wikipedia* Yeah, a female playable character for the first time.
And we aren't getting it in the west?

FFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-*Vehement swearing then cleansing breath.*

Man that's dissapointing on so many levels! The one thing I've eagerly anticipated from this series, and I won't even likely get to play it.

I would've done my best to get a copy, and I would've recommended it to my S.O. Especially if we can play as her from start to finish!

 

[balladbird]

Wait, do my eyes decieve me, or is there a woman amongst the playable characters finally?*Checks Wikipedia* Yeah, a female playable character for the first time.
And we aren't getting it in the west?

Haruka is playable in 5. From what I hear she's not exactly a warrior-type (apparently her role in the game is some kind of "try to be an idol" simulator) but hey, that's still a promotion from "that plot device who gets kidnapped once a game to throw Kiryu back into the underworld" XD


What surprises me about the way they treated 5 is just that the game actually got a small amount of coverage by the western gaming media. Not as much as your standard AAA development, naturally, but a whole hell of a lot more than some of the obscure JRPGS that like to sneak across the pond when no-one's looking. I'm disappointed, since the yakuza games are some of the only sandbox games I like, but if that's the writing on the wall, I guess there's nothing to be done.

 

[Rebel_Raven]

Wait, do my eyes decieve me, or is there a woman amongst the playable characters finally?*Checks Wikipedia* Yeah, a female playable character for the first time.
And we aren't getting it in the west?

Haruka is playable in 5. From what I hear she's not exactly a warrior-type (apparently her role in the game is some kind of "try to be an idol" simulator) but hey, that's still a promotion from "that plot device who gets kidnapped once a game to throw Kiryu back into the underworld" XD


What surprises me about the way they treated 5 is just that the game actually got a small amount of coverage by the western gaming media. Not as much as your standard AAA development, naturally, but a whole hell of a lot more than some of the obscure JRPGS that like to sneak across the pond when no-one's looking. I'm disappointed, since the yakuza games are some of the only sandbox games I like, but if that's the writing on the wall, I guess there's nothing to be done.

Yeah, a definite promotion. Shame she doesn't maul people, though. Unless she does, then that's just epic.

Honestly, this would be the first I heard of Yakuza 5. It's good to know that it's getting attention in the west, though. Frankly we need more of Japan's games brought over, IMO. And those games need attention in the media so we know they're here. A game can be made, or broken by how much word of it's existance gets out there, IMO.
Even a bad game might sell well if there's commercials on TV for it.

 

[crazygameguy4ever]

this doesn't really affect a US release. the publisher decides where a game is released, not the developers.. if Sega says yes to a US release the it will happen, regardless of what the developers want or don't want.

 

[JoshuaMadoc]

Of course there aren't any plans, Sega's hardly a patron saint of generosity, and I doubt that'll change. Have we learned nothing of the whole Shining series Youtube takedown blitz?

 

[Keiichi Morisato]

Wait, do my eyes decieve me, or is there a woman amongst the playable characters finally?*Checks Wikipedia* Yeah, a female playable character for the first time.
And we aren't getting it in the west?

FFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-*Vehement swearing then cleansing breath.*

Man that's dissapointing on so many levels! The one thing I've eagerly anticipated from this series, and I won't even likely get to play it.

I would've done my best to get a copy, and I would've recommended it to my S.O. Especially if we can play as her from start to finish!

but playing her character would be sexist... as the whole point of her segment is to dress her up in skimpy costumes and have her dance off against other pop idols.

 

[AzrealMaximillion]

Why would the Yakuza devs be doing the localization?

Because its sold well enough in the West to warrant doing so every time.

Sega's just scared to due so simply because as we saw with all of the games localized in Operation Rainfall failing to sell even though the internet's Nintendo fans pretty much got Robin Williams' daughter to campaign on its behalf.

And considering that Yakuza mechanics wise is a spiritual sequel to Shenmue (the franchise that Sega spent 90 million on and failed to recoup) Sega's being really cautious. Don't know why, it sells a decently enough for a Japanese import PS3 exclusive.


OP: The people that demand it are wanting it because the main character is on the low, one of the most impressively morally complex protagonist in a long time and the story consistently grown out a background in itself and within every character mentioned. Even the side quest characters.

Its one fuck of a franchise and the fact that it has made it to its fifth installment with people still giving a shit about what happening in its world is impressive in this day and age. Franchises today usually add very little to each game in terms of story. They write games in the same manner that the usual Hollywood movies are written. Same story, different scenic background. Yakuza is written like one of the better serious anime franchises. Each game is like a show's season. And always properly references and sometimes uses events from previous installments.

 

[seditary]

Why would the Yakuza devs be doing the localization?

Because its sold well enough in the West to warrant doing so every time.

That's not what I mean. Why would the Yakuza devs specifically do the localization? Why wouldn't some actual localization team do it?

 

[Salad Is Murder]

Guys, come on. We can't expect SEGA to start making decisions that are smart and/or respect their fanbase NOW, can we?

 

[Big_Boss_Mantis]

Wasn't the four previous Yakuza games extremely unprofitable in the west? If they don't make the money back from localization, its surprising they kept localizing the series.

They don't spend a whole lot on localization though, at most its simply just adjusting the text to fit the size constraints of the boxes it goes into after it's translated. Voice Acting tends to be the big cost item when doing these things, which Sega hasn't been doing since Yakuza 1 (or 2, if I'm wrong about 1 being the only game with English voices).

It sells well enough though, specially if you're claiming all 4 sold badly, to warrant releases up to Yakuza 4 and the Dead Souls spinoff. It just sounds like the devs (or Sega), doesn't feel like bringing in any additional developers to handle translating and localizing the game. And in that case, they should just hand it over to Atlus to handle that. I mean hell, it's not like they have to pay them more now to do so or anything.

Well the poor sales in the west IS the reason SEGA doesn't do it. All four of the games had consistently awful sales. Yes they might make a small profit from translating it, but companies generally look the way of "If we can use those same resources to make more money elsewhere, it's not worth it".

Even then, how expensive is it to translate an entire game? I figure it probably isn't piss cheap if so many companies refuse. It's not like your just doing a direct translation to English then re-sizing text.

See, yes, the games sold poorly.

But they probably sold poorly because SEGA did a terrible job of bringing them.

I played the first and became a fan of the series. The first sold badly, but it probably could have recouped the money spent if its localization hadn?t been so expensive due to using english voice actors.
So they learnt their lesson and only put subtitles on Yakuza 2. Good move. Except for the fact that SEGA took ages (2 years!!) to bring the game to the west. When it finally came, people weren?t playing PS2 anymore.

Then they didn?t bring Kenzan, pissing off fans. Then they bring Yakuza 3 terribly LATE. It was an early PS3 title, brought at full price, more than one year after the Japanese launch, when the system had greatly advanced. So it got reviews saying that it looked dated. And it were incredibly dated compared to Red Dead Redemption, that launched the same year (2010).
To this date I haven?t played Yakuza 3 (even though I own a copy), because SEGA WON?T LET ME PLAY YAKUZA 2 ON PS3, and I am not going to dust my PS2 just so I can follow the series.

Then, only after they announced Yakuza 5, they released 4 on the west. Again, a lot of time after the japanese release.

And they released 2 spin-offs on the PSP that they didn?t bring to the west.

I really enjoy the series, I want to play the games and follow the franchise. But SEGA just makes it too troublesome for me.

They only bring the games they feel like bringing, usually more than one year after they were relevant.

In the rest of the world, Yakuza can?t sell the amount of games that they do in Japan, unfortunately. But it surely could have gathered a cult following and some avid fans outside of Japan, if SEGA didn?t went great lengths to aggravate its fans. There is profit to be made, if they weren?t so blatantly incompetent.
I would gladly import Yakuza 1 & 2 HD if they came with english subtitles. See, THESE GAMES WERE RELEASED IN ENGLISH, GODDAMIT! Why couldn?t they have put english as an optional language? Where is the cost? A group of interns could have localized it based on the originals.

A lot of games nowadays come with several languages (Uncharted, Tomb Raider, GTA V, God Of War, Halo, etc). Even though this are top tier franchises, the thing is that games are being released simultaneously worldwide, and the industry is moving away from the old "release first, then, eventually, localize" model.
SEGA could have released the games with budget price, put them exclusively on PSN. Take less profit now and build the franchise for the future.
Deadly Premonition (old game, cult game) was released on the PSN. And it is an isolated game. Yakuza had the potential to become a cult series, with games still being developed.

So, in this particular case, I don?t think one could just blame the consumer for the poor sales. The sales were meager because SEGA did a terrible job since the series inception, and even I, as a fan, have no interest in investing in a series without knowing if the games are gonna be released at all.

 

[havoc33]

Like many others have mentioned before me, I blame the Yakuza series failure in the West solely on SEGA themselves. The main reason for the lackluster sales can be pointed to the horrible delay from Japanese to Western release. Yes it is a niche game, but that doesn't mean the series shouldn't have sold better than it has. Releasing one or two year after over here just doesn't cut it, not only do you risk the game looking slightly dated, but also you loose all sorts of momentum from the initial release in Japan. This latter part is especially critical, since SEGA does not use a dime on marketing over here in the West. I can remember reading all sorts of positive news stories when Yakuza 5 was announced for example, and most gaming sites had several updates on the game up until the release in Japan. And then, like all the titles before it, it drops off the map completely, and now most gamers that are not dedicated towards the series will have all but forgotten about it, and even worse, the fans that invested in the series gets fed up and as a result you're actually diminishing your own fan base with each subsequent release.

 

[Psychobabble]

Oh yeah? Well then I'm not buying any more violent tentacle porn DVDs until they do. How do ya like that Japan!?

 

[havoc33]

And no, SEGA failing to advertise the games in the west has nothing to do with anything in SEGA's mind. SEGA just sees consistently low sales. Sure Yakuza 3 sold about the same it did in Japan if you combine everywhere in the world aside from Japan, and 3 and 4 both had over 100K sales in US, but SEGA wants MORE then that. A profit is not the only amount they want. They want a significant profit that justifies the cost compared to using the same amount of money elsewhere.

How much could a translation really cost though, since they no longer do the voice acting? Why wouldn't it make sense for them to make an English translation instantly and sell it in Europe and the US since it nearly doubles their sales? I cannot understand why they would want to create a series like Yakuza, and limit themselves to the current max sales ceiling of 500.000 to 600.000 copies in Japan. Surely a text translation, different box and distribution can't blow away all the profit from selling another 500.000 copies worldwide? Please explain.

 

[Blastinburn]

Operation Rainfall was running a poll recently [http://operationrainfall.com/vote-to-localize-sega-konami-polls/] in cooperation with LAI (Language Automation Inc) where LAI would offer their services at a discounted price for the the game that got the most votes. The game that won the SEGA poll was Yakuza 5, which eliminates the barrier mentioned, that the Dev team would prefer to work on the next game than localize the current one. Between the now SEGA owned ATLUS and the services of LAI, their excuse is gone.

I don't personally care about Yakuza, but I know what it's like to have a game you want, from a series you love denied to you because the company refuses to localize it.

How much could a translation really cost though, since they no longer do the voice acting? Why wouldn't it make sense for them to make an English translation instantly and sell it in Europe and the US since it nearly doubles their sales? I cannot understand why they would want to create a series like Yakuza, and limit themselves to the current max sales ceiling of 500.000 to 600.000 copies in Japan. Surely a text translation, different box and distribution can't blow away all the profit from selling another 500.000 copies worldwide? Please explain.

Translations are actually quite expensive, ESPECIALLY between Latin based (alphabet) and non-Latin based (symbol-based: Japanese, Chinese, etc...) languages. It's not just a matter of popping it into Google translate (trust me, I've tried playing a game setup to auto-translate, it's not readable), grammar, tone, meaning, even sentence structure needs to be changed just to make it readable. And even then, it may fail to get the point across. Cultural references won't be understood by people in other countries (and if your target demographic is just people who are deeply embedded in Japanese culture, good luck actually making a profit), getting tone of voice and character across in dialog is a challenge for good writers, and here they need to interpret it correctly first. Add to this that many Japanese games are not only story driven, so having a good translation is very important to enjoying it, but really long, and you have a recipe for a money sink. You could try and do it on "cheap" with only a few people, but it will take longer, and you're more likely to miss errors and mistakes. But while hiring more people can speed up the process and put more eyes on the text, it obviously costs more, and you can also get differences in writing style that can pop up in different places. Also (again), as someone else mentioned, they also need to make sure the text fits and lines up in the dialog boxes since 1 character in Japanese = 1 word but it takes several characters in Latin based languages to make a single word.

I am less sure about this part, but even putting the translation from Yakuza 1 and 2 (if they don't hate it and want it redone) into the HD remakes would require a lot of work if the engine or text handling system was changed (which is likely, considering the PS3s strange architecture), and any changes made to the originals in terms of text handling would need to be applied to the HD remakes as well even if the engine didn't change.

TL;DR:
Companies don't not localize games because they're jerks. If it was easy and profitable (or they thought it was) they would do it, the purpose of companies is to make money after all.

 

[Big_Boss_Mantis]

Thirdly, Yakuza 2 came out in 2008, a 2 years after the PS3 came out. That does not mean a game cant sell on PS2 exclusively. After all, Persona 4 did despite being from an ultra niche series. If your angry at them for releasing a game in 2008 on PS2 a year after the game released in Japan (because you know, most Japanese games take that long to release in the West after Japan) then you are an entitled piece of shit.

Gee, man, chill. Did you forgot to take your pills?

You know what is funny? I bought Yakuza 2, played half of it, then upgraded to PS3 and an HD Tv, so the PS2 looked terrible. Then I bought Yakuza 3 and saved it until they released the second on on PS3 as a PS2 classic (wich, by the way, has a release cost next to ZERO) or an HD collection.I have 60 bucks to spare if they decide to bring it to the PS3 (and I would be paying twice for the same game).
So yeah. Damn those entitled consumers like me.
SEGA put Shinobi, Virtua Fighter 4 and Sonic Heroes as PS2 classics on the PSN, by the way.

Most Japanese developers do take about one year to localize a game and bring it overseas, I'll give you that. But it DOES hurt sales of the games (even when they ultimately sell well), and it is their fault, not the consumers. It is bound to happen if your product is one year old, launching with another product from this year, by the same price.
You are saying "Japan does it. #dealwithit". However it saddens me, since I prefer japanese games and they are diving head first into irrelevancy, because they can't keep up with the times.
Localization with subtitles is much cheaper than other parts of game developing (like writing, sound design and, obviously, heavy programming) and they COULD fix it.

And in the Yakuza series, one year is THE MINIMUM. The games take two years to NEVER to be released.

Lasatly, the Yakuza series is selling slightly more at each iteration (as is the rule in this industry, with some exceptions), as you have provided the numbers yourself. There is room for growth. There is a market for localized japanese games on the west. And there is people consuming manga and anime. They can find a market if they work for it and please their consumer base.

Instead, they are all like "I can't make the amount of money I think I deserve to make in these games, so I'm not releasing at all". There is a word for it. Which one is it... Oh yes! Entitled.
See, this word is not exclusive to the consumers...

 

[AzrealMaximillion]

You know, I'd love to see some proof of that because I'm smelling some major ol' bull right there.

Xenoblade and The Last Story had sold well enough, last I heard.

Ummm... what?

All of the games in Operation Rainfall didn't sell so well.


Not even 2 million copies sold altogether in worldwide. Those games didn't even sell that well in Japan. Especially when compared to the Yakuza games in question. The Yakuza franchise barring the first has sold nearly 1 million units with each installment worldwide. Its worth localizing the Yakuza series when you look at how minimal of job they need to do with translating considering they just stick English subtitles in the game.

The other games you mentioned seems to be brought up more with your issues with Sega than the the point of the OP. I agree with you that Valyria Chronicles 2 sucked. Though I also think that Valkyria Chronicles was a game that didnt't need a sequel due to its story being complete in the first game.

I also agree with you about Sega's handling of the Phantasy Star franchise. Though you have to keep in mind, translating an MMO is a large task and I'm willing to wait for PSO2. Besides, if you want to get mad at Sega for its lack of speed when translating games, then you have to get made at a lot more than just Sega, just saying.

But both of those franchises you've mentioned have nothing to do with the localization issues being talked about here.

Yakuza will eventually be released in North America. The Escapist always reports that Sega "has no plans to localized Yakuza (insert entry here) outside of Japan." Then the following year, the game gets a spontaneous release. No petitions, no major online outcry. It just happens. Its the same deal with the "Tales Of" series with Namco Bandai.

If by next year we don't have Yakuza 5, then I'd be worried. Until then Nintendo and only Nintendo will wear the crown for being horrible for localization thanks to Operation Rainfall needing to happen in the first place.


Another point. Sega's parent company did just buy Atlus, so I can see them doing the localization work for Yakuza 5 should Sega choose no to do it themselves.