SEGA: Kenzan Localisation Contingent On Yakuza 4 Sales News

A SEGA Community rep has commented on the factors involved in a western localisation of samurai-themed Yakuza spin-off Yakuza: Kenzan.

“If we want to encourage higher-ups at SEGA to explore bolstering the franchise further, we have to first show some major growth with the series as it stands. Yakuza 3 did well, in large part thanks to the fans, and now it's really, really important that Yakuza 4 does even better,” the rep explained in a post on Neogaf.

“There's a huge amount of cost involved and then further risk in both bringing a game over and marketing it. The only potential problem I personally see with Kenzan is that it takes an already niche audience here in the states and may break it down even more.”

But the rep noted that the power to bring further Yakuza titles over lies in the hands of the consumer.

“The more units [Yakuza 4] ships, the more likely SEGA as a company will be to spend / risk more on it in the future. It's all basic business stuff, but still worth noting. It's amazing how much pre-orders can also help those numbers. Thank you to those fans reading this who already did pre-order, as even just one does make a difference in the end.”

Yakuza 4 is released this Friday March 18th for PS3, and includes the hostess side-quests that were conspicuously absent from the western localisation of Yakuza 3.