During a press conference in Tokyo this morning, Yakuza creator Toshihiro Nagoshi officially unveiled Yakuza Studio — a new developer formed under Sega — detailed Yakuza: Black Panther 2 for PSP, and confirmed Yakuza 5.
Nagoshi didn’t share many details about Yakuza 5 on stage, only mentioning the game’s development, but shared a few additional comments during a group interview session following the presentation.
The drama side of the series will not see major changes in Yakuza 5, confirmed Nagoshi. In terms of gameplay, the team is trying to innovate and pursue new things. The changes won’t be too drastic, however, as they want to please fans both old and new.
Yakuza 5 might take a bit longer to create than past games, as the team is trying to craft a new experience. Nagoshi said that the team could’ve easily put out Yakuza 5 faster without changing the mechanics, but it’s not something they wanted to do.
Nagoshi admitted that he felt the announcement of Yakuza 5 was made a bit early. The team is still early in development, said Nagoshi, though a design document is in place. He wouldn’t comment on whether or not the game would appear at the Tokyo Game Show in mid-September. He wouldn’t provide an expected release frame or platform, either.
Thanks, Famitsu (via Andriasang).