Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth Launches in North America

February 2nd, 2016. Today Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth went live on the PlayStation Store for North America, available for $39.99 on the PlayStation Vita and $59.99 on the PlayStation 4. For the entire month of February the game is available as a launch bundle, which includes the preorder DLC for Beelzebumon Blast Mode, Cherubimon Vice, and several alternate versions of Agumon and Gabumon. The bundle also comes with several themes, including one featuring the thirteen Royal Knight Digimon, and one with key art by character designer Yasuda Suzuhito. The Vita version of the game a memory card to play due to its size. PS4 copies of the game are also available physically.

Cyber Sleuth is the first localized Digimon game in almost eight years. Producer Habu Kazumasa stated that the game is made both for core fans and newcomers, written in such a way that no prior knowledge of Digimon is expected of the player. That knowledge is still rewarded by allusions to past anime series, and an incredible attention to detail put into the in-game Digimon animations, recreating iconic scenes from those anime. In our cover-to-cover review of Cyber Sleuth, we pointed to the game as one candidate for "the best Digimon game ever made," giving it a final score of 9/10.

Since even before its Japanese launch, the Digimon fandom campaigned extensively for Cyber Sleuth to receive an international localization, creating the massive Operation Decode petition to see Digimon games brought over to the western world. Everyone fought beautifully for this game's localization. But this fight is not yet over; if OpDecode's original goal--the localization of 3DS game Digimon World Re:Digitize Decode--is to be realized, we will need to move every unit of Cyber Sleuth possible.

Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth will launch in Europe on February 5th, 2016.

Global Launch of Digimon Heroes Approaching

January 21st, 2016. The official Digimon Heroes Facebook page posted today hinting at a rapidly approaching global release for Heroes, the English-language localization of the Digimon Crusader mobile game. Until now Heroes has been restricted to specific regions; it was originally announced for a late 2015 global launch, but was delayed to fall 2016. More than 3,000 people had preregistered for the game the first day that registration opened late last December, and the current number of cumulative preregistrations at the time of this writing exceeds 19,000.

Cherubimon Vice & Beelzebumon Blast Mode Teased in English Cyber Sleuth Trailer

December 21st, 2015. Bandai Namco Entertainment America uploaded their first English gameplay trailer for Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth today, illustrating the basic gameplay mechanics of the Story series for western audiences. Players gather scan data on Digimon by encountering them in the wild, then Digiconvert it to create their own copy of that Digimon. The end of the trailer promotes the game's upcoming original DLC, available for players that preorder the physical game or purchase a digital copy in the first month. Exclusive to the international versions of the game, players will able to download Beelzebumon Blast Mode and Cherubimon Vice, whose stats were leaked in a previous livestream. The trailer shows the two of them using their unique Special Skills, Chaos Flare (appearing under its dub name, Corona Destroyer) and Lightning Spear.

Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth will launch on the PlayStation Vita and PlayStation 4 in North America on February 2nd, 2016, and in Europe on February 5th, 2016.

European Cyber Sleuth Release Date, DLC Confirmed for Vita

November 19th, 2015. The European Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth stream has just confirmed that Cyber Sleuth's European release date will be on February 5th, 2016, three days after its American counterpart. In addition, the stream has also confirmed that the preorder DLC will be available digitally for both the PlayStation 4 and PSVita, as well as on physical copies of the game.

The stream is currently ongoing, and fans can win small Digimon plush toys by tweeting the phrase "I'm watching @BandaiNamcoEU's Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth livestream! http://bnent.eu/twitch  I want to win goodies!" If the stream reaches 1000 or more viewers, a large Agumon plush will be given away. Fans can watch the stream here: http://www.twitch.tv/bandainamcoeurope

Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth will launch in English on the PlayStation Vita, PSTV, and PlayStation 4 on February 2nd, 2016, in North America, and February 5th, 2016, in Europe.

2:30 PM EST Update: The stream has concluded. The peak viewer count was 583, more than 400 below the target goal. The big Agumon plush will instead be given out at a subsequent Cyber Sleuth stream, held in the months leading up to the game's February release. Stream hosts Issad and Juliet also confirmed that the game's online multiplayer modes will be retained for the western release.

Cyber Sleuth Set for February Release Date

October 11th, 2015. At this year's New York Comic-Con, Bandai Namco US announced the final launch date for the English-language Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth; February 2nd, 2016. The JRPG will be available on the PlayStation 4, Vita, and PSTV systems for $59.99, supporting additional difficulty modes and a New Game Plus feature not found in the Japanese game. Cyber Sleuth has been designed with both adults and players completely new to the Digimon franchise in mind, creating a well-rounded RPG that stands on its own merits rather than merely being an extension of the formerly child-oriented brand.

Cyber Sleuth director Habu Kazumasa previously attributed the game's international launch to the Operation Decode petition, which in the lead-up to Sleuth's release announcement acquired more than sixty-five thousand signatures asking for the Digimon franchise to return to the west. The other game Operation Decode focused on--Digimon World Re:Digitize Decode on the 3DS--has not yet been announced for a western release, although a fan translation of the original Re:Digitize on PSP has partially filled the gaps. With -next 0rder- on the horizon as the next major Digimon game, Cyber Sleuth's international sales will likely determine whether future entries in the Digimon World and Digimon Story series reach the west.

Bandai Namco Publishes English Cyber Sleuth Trailer

September 16th, 2015. Bandai Namco Entertainment America has uploaded their official English-language Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth. Although the final game will only have Japanese audio with subtitles, the trailer features a dub of Kuremi Kyouko's (localized as Kyoko Kuremi) introductory dialogue. The trailer is a generally accurate dub of the original Japanese Cyber Sleuth trailer, which can be found subtitled here. Certain liberties taken to change the pace of the trailer, and to cut specific segments for time. The English trailer is approximately half the length of the Japanese trailer, greatly abridging the original content.

Previously an English gameplay demo of Cyber Sleuth was made available at a Brazilian press event last month. The international game will feature more difficulty options from the Japanese release, as well as a new game+ feature not found in the original. Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth will launch in both English and Chinese on the PlayStation Vita and PlayStation 4 in 2016.

English Cyber Sleuth Demo Previews Official English Script

August 24th, 2015. At a Brazilian press event, Bandai Namco Entertainment demoed the PlayStation 4 build of the English edition Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth. A recording of the demo was later uploaded to YouTube on the 28th. The demo showed off both a brief gameplay and a storyline segment, including a peak at the official English localization. The script for the scene hones very close to the original; in the Japanese script Kyoko was fond of referring to the protagonist as both "my assistant," (私の助手 watashi no joshu) "Watson-kun" (ワトスン君 Watosun-kun) and "Cyber Sleuth" (電脳探偵 Dennou Tantei translated "cyber detective" in Tamer Union's Let's Play to distinguish from サイバースルゥース Saibaa Suruusu) each of which has found its way into the official translation. Moreover, Kyoko's use of "Cyberspace" instead of "digital world" is a distinction that was present in the Japanese text.

While the demo does show certain dub-developed names like Gatomon and Flamedramon being used rather than Tailmon and Fladramon, the script that was shown is otherwise faithful to the original game. Digimon's long-awaited return to the English-speaking world will also be at the finest it's ever been.

Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth will be available internationally in both English and Chinese on the PlayStation Vita, PlayStation TV, and PlayStation 4 in 2016. The game will feature original Japanese audio with a translated script, subtitles for cutscenes, new difficulty options, cross-save support, and a New Game+ feature unique to the international editions.