The mastermind behind the franchise exploring the seedy underbelly of Japanese organized crime, Yakuza, has announced he’s working on a brand new game. The news emerged during Sega’ most recent official Sega Nama news roundup live stream broadcast yesterday.
Though light on details, creator Toshihiro Nagoshi did drop a few hints notably the game is a departure from what we grown accustomed to from the developer. In his own words, the game will be ‘something completely different’ and ‘that nobody is expecting’. Whether this means a new IP isn’t indicated, but emphasis on it being an unexpected game tilts the scales towards this being the case.
An official announcement is expected to drop before the next Sega Nama’s live stream at the end of next month. The Tokyo Game Show is scheduled for September 19th to 23rd and Sega may very well take advantage of the gaming world’s focus on Tokyo to make their unexpected announcement.
Nagoshi revealed the game has been in development for the past three years and is only now in a state meriting an announcement. Though the three-year period does include the planning stage, it’s difficult to say how far into development the title is. As to what team is developing the game, details were not provided, but the team of developers behind the Yakuza series may very well be involved. Given their pedigree, the prospect is tantalizing to say the least.
In other Yakuza news, Yakuza Online was announced for release to the Japanese market by the end of this year. The game is a completely new Yakuza title that follows the story of a certain Ichiban Kasuga as he navigates Tokyo’s underworld and interacts with characters from the previous games to cement his fame and fortune.
