Japanese gaming bible Famitsu’s let the cat out of the bag on a couple of Yakuza-related projects ahead of today’s planned announcements from series head honcho Toshihiro Nagoshi.
The publication has confirmed (via Andriasang) that Nagoshi and chums have formed a dedicated Yakuza Studio to oversee the development of future titles in the series. In Japan, the studio will be known as "Ryu ga Gotoku Studio.”
Speaking of future instalments, Famitsu also confirmed that two new Yakuza titles are already in development at the new studio – Yakuza 5 and Kurohyou 2 Ryu ga Gotoku, the latter being a follow-up to PSP outing Yakuza: Black Panther.
The Black Panther sequel is in the works for PSP, and will be playable at the Tokyo Game Show in mid-September. It’s currently slated for a spring 2012 launch in the Land of the Rising Sun, and retains much of the basic gameplay mechanics of its predecessor.
No details were spilled on Yakuza 5, though with SEGA due to host a press conference later today, it won’t be long until get the skinny on this latest core franchise entry.
Stay tuned.