Yakuza 3 Won't Be Released in North America

Yakuza 3 won't be released in North America due to low sales from the first two titles of the series in that region. Sega has a history of bad fortune when it comes to open world games. Before the Yakuza series, they had Shenmue. Back in 1999, Sega launched the Sega Dreamcast to compete against the Playstation 2, Nintendo Gamecube and Xbox. Shenmue was supposed to be a killer app for the Sega Dreamcast and help propel it over the competition.

After years of anticipation, the Sega Dreamcast exclusive game was released on November 6, 2000. It features an incredibly detailed world where the player has the freedom to roam around the streets to talk with the inhabitants, play several mini-games and more. Shenmue was highly-noted for its stunning visuals at that period and incredible details in the world.

Despite the positive press, the exclusive title on the Sega Dreamcast only ended up selling moderately well, nowhere close to its killer app status. Not to mention that the sales weren't enough to cover the high budget for the game, which is said to be the most expensive video game developed at that time. Due to the disappointing sales, Sega decided to not initially released Shenmue 2 in the west. It wasn't until Microsoft jumped in that the sequel would be ported, translated and released in North America for the Xbox on October 28, 2002.

The same fate is happening to the Yakuza series. The first game in the open-world series was released on September 15, 2006 for the Playstation 2 in North America. While it did very well in Japan, Yakuza barely sold in the west. As a result, Sega was hesitant in localizing the sequel.

Like Shenmue, Yakuza requires a lot of work to localize, especially with the inclusion of English voices. Therefore, Yakuza 2 wasn't released in North America until two years after the initial Japanese launch when Sony allowed Sega to release it with English subtitles only.

However, Sony isn't giving Sega the same leeway on the Playstation 2 as the are on Playstation 3. So because Sega is not willing to spend extra on localizing Yakuza 3 with English voices due to low sales potential, the series may be dead in North America. It is such a shame because Yakuza Kenzan and Yakuza 3 are some of the best games on the Playstation 3. Not to mention that Yakuza 4 will likely end up being an excellent title as well.

Hopefully, Sony and Sega can work something out again like they did with Yakuza 2 on the Playstation 2. Otherwise, many Playstation 3 gamers will be disappointed.