Tales producer wants simultaneous worldwide release

Tales of Graces F launched in Japan on December 2, 2010. In the U.S., the game released on March 13, 2012. And in Europe, it will become available on August 31. The near two-year gap in between the game’s Japanese and English releases is a big one, and one that series producer Hideo Baba would like to change. 

“I’d like to release future Tales games at the same time, or nearer the same time as Japan,” Baba told Eurogamer.

“When Graces F began development we didn’t have a plan to localize it,” Baba explained. “We have to receive requests from our U.S. or E.U. branches first before we can decide to bring something to the Western markets.”

These fan requests have come through Namco Bandai’s local Facebook and Twitter channels, he said.

“If we know we’re going to localize it from the off then it saves a lot of time. It means that translation can start as soon as the Japanese story is written.”

The Tales team is always “really busy,” according to Baba. As soon as work was finished on Tales of Graces F, for example, the team was already developing Tales of Xillia, which launched in Japan last September and will arrive in the U.S. and Europe next year. This can make scheduling work on localizations a difficult task.

The Tales team is currently developing Tales of Xillia 2 for PlayStation 3, due to launch in Japan on November 1 this year. Baba said at the Japan Expo on Friday that it will arrive overseas if the first Xillia sells well.