Yakuza Producer Says That Yakuza: Kenzan Could Get A Kiwami Version

At an event in Taipei this past weekend, Yakuza series producer Daisuke Sato celebrated the release of Yakuza 5 in Chinese, which makes every game in the main series playable in some form on the PS4. He answered questions regarding the remasters, and in one answer brought up the possibility of a Yakuza: Kenzan ‘Kiwami’ remake. [Thanks, Bahamut!]

Here are the highlights:

Will you continue to release new Kiwami remakes?

Daisuke Sato, producer: “Personally, Yakuza: Kenzan is quite suitable to get a ‘Kiwami’ makeover. Kenzan was the first Yakuza game on the PlayStation 3, and only released in Japan. A lot of Western players mentioned that they want to play this game in English, and Asian players also want the game to release in Chinese. And because Kenzan was an early PS3 game, if it were to receive a simple HD remaster it would feel like it’s missing something, so in my opinion a ‘Kiwami’ version would be better.”

You’ve mentioned that re-negotiating contracts is quite troublesome. Would you consider making games like Kenzan that don’t really require contracts?

Sato: “Because Yakuza: Kenzan! is an early game, the overall appearances of the characters are quite old, and so if we were to create a ‘Kiwami’ version, we could possibly find new actors to contract and swap the models out.”

Yakuza: Kenzan released on the PlayStation 3.