Yakuza 4 mobbing North America, Europe, spring 2011

First announced at the Tokyo Game Show in 2009, the fourth installment in the Yakuza series will lose its Japanese exclusivity next year when Sega brings it West.

Yakuza 4 sold 560,000 units in Japan since it released there as Ryu ga Gotoku 4, and that proved substantial enough for it to warrant a debut in the West. Sega today announced that it will bring the title to North America and Europe in spring 2011.

In this latest installment, main character Kazuma Kiryu is joined by equally pugnacious combatants Masayoshi Tanimura, Shun Akiyama, and Taiga Saejima. Each of the four main characters has a distinct narrative, with each backstory carrying a connection to the game's Tojo clan.

Sega localized Yakuza 1, 2, and 3 but elected to skip the Westward migration process for series spin-off Ryu ga Gotoku Kenzan!, which released in Japan in 2008.

For more on Sega's latest, check out GameSpot's previous coverage of Yakuza 4.