The Yakuza series has a long and storied past, starting with the first game's release in 2005 and spawning multiple iterations and reiterations thereafter. As falls in line with the Yakuza 3 remaster gameplay footage shown a while back, it has now been announced that a Yakuza Remastered Collection will be heading gamers' way soon, containing updated versions of Yakuza 3, Yakuza 4, and Yakuza 5.
For the moment, the remasters' releases aren't technically considered a collection, as the games aren't being released in one package as the term "collection" would suggest. Rather, Yakuza 3, Yakuza 4, and Yakuza 5 are being remastered and will be released separately on PlayStation 4 over the course of the next six months.
Just in time for Gamescom, an announcement trailer was released today showing off gameplay from the remastered games. Each game will be updated with a 1080p format and will operate at a speed of 60 frames-per-second, as is fairly conventional for remasters of most sorts.
As can be seen above, the trailer is pretty intense. It shows off snippets of combat that the Yakuza series is known for as well as cutscene moments from throughout the three games.
As depicted in the trailer, Yakuza 3 has become available today on PlayStation 4. Meanwhile, the remaster of Yakuza 4 will be releasing October 29, 2019. Finally, Yakuza 5's remaster will be releasing February 11, 2020.
Perhaps, this is all part of SEGA's desire to bring back major IP's. Remasters wouldn't seem like the first way to do it, but the Yakuza series has gotten remakes before in the form of Yakuza Kiwami and Yakuza Kiwami 2 which were remakes of the first and second games in the Yakuza series, respectively.
The Yakuza series is one of the more popular exclusive ones on PlayStation consoles, so this move is fairly sensible. It's strange that the collection is technically not a "collection," as that could have been a more profitable way to go. With that in mind, the same thing was done with Resident Evil 4, Resident Evil 5, and Resident Evil 6 when they were released separately on modern consoles. Nonetheless, this is a great opportunity for newcomers to the Yakuza franchise to try out the organized crime series beloved by many PlayStation console owners.
Yakuza 3 is currently available on PlayStation 4.
Source: GameSpot