Yo-Kai Watch Finally Coming to the West
![thumb-lrg[1]](https://i0.wp.com/vooks.net/img/2015/04/thumb-lrg1.png)
Exciting Yo-Kai Watch news has filtered out of Level-5 today: Yo-Kai are finally making their way out of Japan.
Launching in 2016, Yo-Kai will be arriving not only on your 3DS, but also on the shelves of toy stores, with a partnership between Hasbro and Level-5 also announced. Don’t expect a same-day launch for the Japanese and English versions of the game, though. Yo-Kai Watch Busters will hit Japanese shelves in July, with the game launching worldwide throughout 2016.
In a bizzare twist, the first Yo-Kai game set outside of Japan was not the game announced for international release. Go figure. Set in North America, it will continue the formula of the successful franchise with a new lead.
Also: Yo-Kai battling it out in Ancient China. That’s a thing.
![yokai-warriors[1]](https://i0.wp.com/vooks.net/img/2015/04/yokai-warriors1.jpg)
Time will only tell if that’s making it’s way to our shores too.
Yo-Kai Watch is HUGE in Japan, and with a big name like Hasbro looking to get it into your hands, it’s undoubtedly going to be the same here. Are you ready for it? Excited for it, even? Let us know below.
Can’t wait for this, been watching the anime, best friend has 1 and 2 in Japanese, really wondering if we will get either of those as all they confirmed today was Yokai Busters. I know one of the other games is being translated but which one! Personally I’m still hoping one of them comes out this year and then toys next but that’s unlikely I guess.
I doubt that this will be anywhere near as successful in the West due to its distinctly “Japanese” aesthetic. It may enjoy Digimon levels of success, in which it peaks very quickly (during its first season), only to fizzle out shortly thereafter due to waned public interest (or the fact that it isn’t as formulaic as similar franchises). Nevertheless, I have no doubt that it will continue to be successful in Japan in the years to come. Yokai Watch just screams of something that fans of anime and Japanese popular culture will love, but that is just too niche a market to sustain the profitability of a franchise like this anywhere else in the world.
This has been another 3DS phenomenon in Japan and who knows, it might take off here…I’m just thankful that it’s finally being translated because I’ve been keen to try them. Plus it’s another title to look forward to in 2016 as 3DS hits its twilight years…