Responding to concerns about the ‘December 31, 2015’ placeholder release date for Yakuza 5 on the PlayStation Store, Sega confirmed on their blog that the PlayStation 3 title is scheduled to come out in mid-November in North America and Europe.
Saying that the mid-November date is what will happen “if all goes to schedule,” Sega detailed the localization bugs that have led to this later than expected release:
Unfortunately, it’s a little later than we would’ve liked, and a few weird development bugs that popped up in localization caused the delay. Without getting too technical, there were just certain parts that didn’t like switching the Japanese text out for English, and we had to actually search through the source code to find a fix, taking more time than we expected. But! Everything is more or less back on track. Once we have details beyond just “mid-November,” we’ll make sure to share them!
To help you until the launch of Yakuza 5, Sega suggested watching these movies: Tokyo Drifter, Infernal Affairs 1 + 2, Pulp Fiction, Yojimbo, and Sonatine.
You can still pre-order Yakuza 5 in North America for $33.99.
In our import review of Yakuza 5 earlier this year, Heath said, “Yakuza 5 is indeed the biggest Yakuza game yet, but far from the best. They’ve all got melodrama, tropes, and cheese, but 5 drags all of these a bit too far, making the fun fade in the late game.”
[Source: Sega Blog]
