Rejoice, fans of violent Japanese gangster action – Sega has confirmed that Yakuza 0 will be available in Europe and America sometime in “early 2017.”
Posting on the PlayStation Blog, community manager Dan Sheridan said that despite the fact the game is also being released on PlayStation 3 in Japan only the PS4 version will see a Western release.
As the name suggests, Yakuza 0 is serving as a prequel to the first game in the series (which is also being remade).
Sheridan’s blog post sets the scene:
For the first time ever, fans of the series have a unique opportunity to get into the story-driven action and play as the Mad Dog of Shimano; Goro Majima–the most eccentric character in the Yakuza series. Along with his unique fighting style and abilities, players will gain an eye-popping insight into his penchant for turning sleaze into profit–while trying to complete impossible tasks set by seemingly unforgiving bosses.
It certainly sounds exciting – take a look at the gorgeous new screenshots just below.
The last mainline title in the Yakuza franchise was Yakuza 5 for PS3 back in 2012. Weirdly, that title has yet to see an international release.
Ewan Moore is a journalist at UNILAD Gaming who still quite hasn’t gotten out of his mid 00’s emo phase. After graduating from the University of Portsmouth in 2015 with a BA in Journalism & Media Studies (thanks for asking), he went on to do some freelance words for various places, including Kotaku, Den of Geek, and TheSixthAxis, before landing a full time gig at UNILAD in 2016.