Yakuza 5 and new portable title announced

Two new Yakuza games are on the way from the newly formed Yakuza Studio.

Series creator Toshihiro Nagoshi promised major announces today, but Famitsu, via Andriasang, got the jump on him.

The first announcement is a sequel to the series' only portable outing, Black Panther: Yakuza Chapter (Kurohyō: Ryū ga Gotoku Shinshō). Another PSP release, the new game will follow similar lines to its precursor, which did not make it outside Japan, and is due in Northern spring 2012.

More likely to see the light of day in Europe and the US is Yakuza 5, also confirmed in the magazine.

Further confirming the publisher's commitment to Yakuza, the Sega development team responsible for the series has been spun out into its own studio. Because of the discrepancy between the localised series name and original Japanese title, it has two names - Yakuza Studio in English, and Ryu ga Gotoku Studio in Japanese.

Sega is holding a press conference later today, so expect more details soon.

Yakuza began on the PS2, and despite drawing criticism for some strange localisation efforts, has repeatedly drawn enough interest to see limited Western release. The series is famous for its detailed depictions of Tokyo streets with numerous interactive elements such as arcade games, and dozens of mini-games and side quests, including the notorious hostess sating sequences.