Despite neglecting our platform of choice for long enough, the number of Japanese-born console games being ported to PC has risen quite significantly in recent years. In 2017 alone, Sega has delivered both Vanquish and Bayonetta to desktops which has us wondering: which games might be next?
Speaking to John Clark, Sega Europe's senior vice president of commercial publishing, at E3, our Samuel asked that very question.
"If I asked you to write me a list of ten games you want Sega to bring out on PC, it probably isn't any different from the list [we have]," says Clark. "I could ask anyone at Sega: write me a list. And what motivates it? I think there's a certain catalogue that people just have an affinity with.
"If you send [your] list over I'll tell you which ones we can tick, which ones are on our list, which ones are possibilities, which ones are not possibilities, which ones we've talked about, which ones we're talking about, which ones we're working on, you know, they'll be on that list."
It seems Sega is conscious of community expectation, then, something the company itself has somewhat perpetuated with the porting of the aforementioned fan-favoured classics. So, is a game like Yakuza one that might fit that purview?
"It's on that list," continues Clark. "Of course something we're talking about it… that would just be incredible to bring that to the PC audience."
When pressed about Persona, Clark echoes the above. "Of course, of course—I keep trying to get in ahead of you, I'm trying to guess what you're going to say next. We don't feel that anything is off the table in terms of these conversations. The fact that as an organisation we're having these healthy conversations, they're constructive, we recognise the value, we recognise the value of the community, the IP. The IP has got continued life to grow and get bigger."
Nothing confirmed, then, but I'm suddenly very confident we'll see the likes of Yakuza and Persona on PC at some point down the line. Speaking to the former, though, how would Sega approach release as far as the chronology of the series is concerned? The original 2005 game was remastered and launched in Japan last year—named Yakuza Kiwami—and is due to launch on PS4 in the west this year. Would that mean prequel Yakuza 0 comes first, followed by the remade original—or would Sega stick to the schedule as per its console run? Speculate away in the comments below.
And before you go—keep your eyes peeled for Samuel's interview in full which offers some really interesting insights into the process of porting Japanese games.
