Yo-Kai Watch is massive in Japan. We mean, really massive! On top of being a highly successful manga and anime brand, Yo-Kai Watch video games frequently hold the top (or around the top) of the video game sales charts in Japan for extended periods of time, where the series is seen as a sort of spiritual competitor to Nintendo’s Pokemon series, currently the second-best selling franchise in the gaming industry worldwide, only behind Mario.
Finally, Western territories are about to see what the fuss is about too, as Level-5 has confirmed that they are bringing the latest Yo-Kai Watch game outside of Japan. Yo-Kai Watch 3: Born in U.S.A. Canada, the U.S., Europe, Korea, Australia and New Zealand will all get the latest Yo-Kai Watch game release localized for them. Consequently, as the title suggests, this latest game takes place in good old America, not Japan this time. It seems that the move to localize the series in Western territories was planned in advance with that latest installment.
This proved to be the only announcement out of today’s now-infamous Level-5 Summit that didn’t earn the ire of fans. Level-5 also announced sequels for Professor Layton and Fantasy Life today, both of which were revealed for Japanese smartphones, with butchered, mobile-friendly play mechanics, enraging fans of both franchises in international territories especially.
Level-5 normally develops and publishes the Yo-Kai Watch games in Japan, though Nintendo will be taking over publishing duties for international territories, with Level-5 merely developing. The English localization of Yo-Kai Watch 3: Born in U.S.A. is expected to release for Nintendo 3DS at some point in 2016.
Yo-Kai Watch unfolds within a world populated by spirits called Yo-Kai (fun fact: ‘Yokai’ in Japanese loosely translates to ‘malevolent spirit’), which can’t normally be seen by the naked eye. The player takes control of a young boy who befriends the Yo-Kai using a special watch device, and can summon them to help him battle other Yo-Kai, hence the series’ frequent comparison to Pokemon.
Keep summoning Eggplante for all news and updates on Yo-Kai Watch, and other big Level-5 brands.