What Little We Know About The Next Yakuza Game

The next Yakuza game won’t be a spin-off like Yakuza Ishin! or Yakuza: Dead Souls, but the creators won’t commit to it being a numbered game. So, what the hell is it? Apparently, it’s for men.

Ever-tan Yakuza series creator and executive director Toshihiro Nagoshi and series producer Masayoshi Yokowama spoke in vague terms in an interview with Weekly Famitsu about their next project. While they were very tight-lipped on the details, they did note that, much like the previous game, the next game would be for the PlayStation 3 and 4. Also that they would be holding auditions for male fans for a chance to appear in the game.

“We went around saying that Yakuza Ishin! was the greatest game for Yakuza series fans.” Yokoyama said. “In that manner, I believe we want to make this game ‘a game that men can most enjoy.’” The Yakuza series has always been a bit of a testosterone-filled love song to Japanese machismo, with tough men solving tough problems with their burning hearts and rock-solid fists — and guns and swords and quite frankly any solid object that are lying about — but for their next game, it seems the developers are looking to go even further.

“The development team has been getting older, and the ratio of ‘old man’ members has been increasing, so being honest with ourselves and making a game where we’d think ‘I want to play this!’ is at the core of development.” Yokoyama explained. “We want to put in as many elements that we ‘men’ would find cool or fun as we can.”

Fan participation has often been part of the development of Yakuza games. Previously, there were auditions for the female hostesses in the game, but for the as-of-yet untitled game, the developers are holding auditions for male fans. The auditions are in 2 categories, 1 for in-game characters, and one for profile pictures to use on billboards for male host clubs that will appear in the game’s entertainment district. While these in-game characters won’t have primary roles, the producers have promised that they won’t just be your random passer-by or nameless face in the backgrounds. The details of the auditions for the in-game characters indicate 6 roles — 2 extorters, 2 rich boys and 2 studs.

The inclusion of male host clubs does indicate the new game will likely take place in the present day or at least some time in the recent past or future. As for other details, Nagoshi stated that they would have more to share after the auditions close in the summer.

Call it sexist, call it a boys’ club, even call it over-compensating, but at least they’re honest about what they’re making and who their audience is.

ファミ通.com [ファミ通.com]