Sega has announced a new chapter in the Yakuza New Story: Black Panther saga. In an interview with Famitsu, Yakuza series creator Toshihiro Nagoshi has stated that Yakuza New Story: Black Panther 2 will retain the same gameplay as the previous title along with a playable demo at the Tokyo Game Show. It is set for a Spring 2012 release.

Some new features added to Black Panther 2 include Sotenbori (Yakuza's fictional version of Osaka) as a new location. Nagoshi also claimed that the game will focus heavily on the theme of "fighting for your friends." Besides the game's protagonist, Tatsuya, there will be four new playable characters. The game was a huge success with younger audiences in Japan, and Nagoshi hopes that this spin-off series will continue this trend. You can view the game's first trailer below.

Toshihiro Nagoshi closed out this announcement by stating that Yakuza 5 is in development. However, he did not confirm any new details in terms of what RPGamers will come to expect with this new release.

More art and screenshots can be found in our galleries here and here.

Yakuza New Story: Black Panther 2 Trailer: