The Yakuza Remastered Collection has been officially confirmed for PS4, and will include remasters of Yakuza 3, Yakuza 4 and Yakuza 5. Remastered versions of these games have already been released individually in Japan, but an international collection has been rumored and requested for quite a while among the western Yakuza fanbase.
Formerly a very niche franchise, the Yakuza series has grown significantly in visibility and popularity in the west over the past few years. Much of that can be attributed to Sega's stronger push for Yakuza 0 and the resulting success of the game, both critically and commercially. Yakuza Kiwami and Yakuza Kiwami 2 quickly followed suit, with longtime developer Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio remaking the first two Yakuza games from the ground up and further expanding the series' influence in the west. The fanbase is bigger than ever before, and the demand is high for more easily accessible versions of the other Yakuza titles. Sega is listening, though, and the publisher has just given western fans something they've been desiring for a long time.
Sam Mullen, director of production at Sega of America, has confirmed the existence of the Yakuza Remastered Collection on Twitter. The collection first came to light when it was mistakenly listed on the PlayStation Store, and a full reveal was likely supposed to take place at Gamescom this week. The collection will include Yakuza 3, 4 and 5, all remastered at 1080p and 60fps. A re-polished and modernized localization is being done for each of the games, and they will include all additional content that was released for them.
The three titles have only been available on PS3 until now, and Yakuza 5 never even got a physical release in western territories. Yakuza 3 is available for download on PS4 today, but the rest of the collection will follow a staggered release model. The remastered Yakuza 4 will be coming to the PlayStation Store on October 29, and the remastered Yakuza 5 is scheduled to arrive on February 11. A physical edition including all three games will be made available immediately after that, and Sega is currently taking pre-orders. Interestingly, the physical version will come with a collectible PS3 case for Yakuza 5's PS4 disc - a nod to the fact that the PS3 original was never available physically in the west.
Now that every mainline Yakuza game will be available on PS4, contemporary Yakuza fans should certainly be delighted. The most recent entry, Yakuza 6, concluded the story of beloved protagonist Kazuma Kiryu - but it's clear that Sega is far from finished with the IP. The recently released Judgment was a well-received spinoff set in the world of Yakuza, and Sega has expressed interest in bringing other side stories like Yakuza Ishin to the west. The future of the series looks big, with another Yakuza-related announcement planned for the end of this month.
Source: Sam Mullen/Twitter