Sega cuts anti-LGBTQ content from Yakuza remasters
Sega launched the Yakuza 3 remaster at Gamescom this week. It is the first of three remasters which also include Yakuza 4 and 5. However, not all of the content from the original games are making the cut.
MCV reports that Sega is tying up the long running Yakuza series with re-releases of Yakuza 3, 4 and 5 which were originally released on PS3. They will be remastered to 1080p and 60fps, enabling fans to enjoy the whole series (the original PS2 titles have already been remastered) on the PS4.
While the remasters are focussing mainly on the technical side, the developer has taken the opportunity to make some edits to the original game to bring the games up to a modern standard of attitudes, specifically around LGBTQ issues.
MCV spoke with series producer Daisuke Sato at Gamescom:
“There are technical issues, but also content issues that we need to change because they don’t fit the modern mindset anymore. The first game is ten years old, back in the day the perception of the LGBTQ community was different to how it is nowadays. It’s a different topic, with different ways of looking at it and talking about it, and so there are some substories that didn’t fit this modern spirit and so they had to be cut.”
Daisuke Sato
While this content should never have been the games to start with, it is refreshing to see a company hold their hands up, admit fault and rectify their work.
The Yakuza Remastered Collection is a digital season pass which allows players to download Yakuza 3 now with Yakuza 4 and Yakuza 5 automatically unlocking in October 2019 and February 2020 respectively.
For more info check out yakuza.sega.com/remastered
h/t MCV@Gamescom
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