GDC: Next Layton in Europe within months

By Robert Purchese Published 26 March, 2009

Level-5 wants to bring entire series across.

Developer Level-5 is busy localising the second Professor Layton DS adventure for North America and Europe, and boss Akihiro Hino hopes to release within six months.

He also told a GDC audience he wants every other Professor Layton game to head West, according to MTV Multiplayer).

That will include all three Japan-released instalments - The Curious Village, The Diabolical Box, The Final Time Journey - plus the upcoming fourth game, The Devil's Flute.

Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box (aka the Devil's Box, Pandora's Box, the Demon's Box - we're checking the official title) rejoins the titular professor and young apprentice Luke as they journey to see Layton's mentor about a mysterious box.

Japan has been playing this second instalment since November 2007, and the game has proven to be every bit as special as the Curious Village.

Head over to our Professor Layton and the Curious Village review for our joyous thoughts.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (18) Latest comment 3 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Eraysor #1 3 years ago

    Hurrah!

  • LazyDan #2 3 years ago

    Thank god this sold like a monster - this was always going to happen with sales as they have been. Weirdly, the first and only game both me AND my mum have loved to death. EXPANDED MARKET SUCCESS!

  • conners #3 3 years ago

    Luke - "Well it's about pissing time these are getting released in the West. After all, we are all European in the bloody games!"

    Layton - "Now, now Luke. There's really no need for such harsh language. Calm and logic will always win through in the end. Just need to be patient dear boy."

    Luke - "I'm sorry Professor. It's just so frustrating - these games have been around in Japan since 2007. Please, forgive my outburst."

    Layton - "2007?! What a fucking liberty. Come on you little blonde prick, we're off to Level 5 HQ and solve this mystery with my old mates Mr. Sawnoff and Stanley Knife."

  • menage #4 3 years ago

    Would be stupid not to.

    The GF is going to be overjoyed.

  • Doctor_What #5 3 years ago

    Screw the girlfriend (if you pardon the pun), I'm overjoyed!

  • Ninja_Tino #6 3 years ago

    I can strangely picture Layton saying that conners. I'm thrilled this game sold extremely well.

  • OmagnusPrime #7 3 years ago

    About bloody time they gave us some news on release dates. However, disappointing that it's not any time soon. Come on Level-5, pull your collective fingers out.

  • udat #8 3 years ago

    Woot!

  • secombe #9 3 years ago

    However, disappointing that it's not any time soon. Come on Level-5, pull your collective fingers out.

    Yet completely understandable from a commercial perspective. The first instalment is currently 3rd in the all-formats chart, having finally become widely available after serious supply issues. A November release in time for Christmas would seem to be the logical option considering a new release soon could hinder sales of the first game.

  • Eraysor #10 3 years ago

    I'm so glad this game sold well. It's not an absolute turd unlike what a lot of Nintendo's marketing relates to.

  • GamesConnoisseur #11 3 years ago

    I have to say its somehow suprising to see this selling well as the pattern would have been great gem of inventive games get less attention than its deserved. But no glad we are going to see more of this gem of franchise and I m really looking forward to each and every one!!

    Wife also loved the game!!

  • OmagnusPrime #12 3 years ago

    @secombe: Not just from a commercial perspective, I'm talking about as a massive fan (I even posted a review on this site) of the game who has been waiting over a year now for the sequel. I picked up Layton upon its US release, which was back in February last year, and promptly finished within a week or so. I've been waiting for news of the sequel ever since, and for some reason the sequel is taking longer to translate than the first game did.

  • Weezer #13 3 years ago

    Yay! More Layton. I wonder if the next instalment will be like frigging hen's teeth too. Saw the first one for £45 on Amazon!

    (Looking forward to Professor Layton and the Wizard's Sleeve, when the prof. gets off his tits and goes on a coke-fuelled porn and booze bender through some seedy North European city. Er... with puzzles)
    Edited by 1 at 26/03/09 @ 14:41

  • plastickitty #14 3 years ago

    best news all day :)

  • Dr_Wadd #15 3 years ago

    Excellent news, I just hope they make sure they get enough copies on the shelves this time. I had one hell of a time finding a copy for my father at Christmas that wasn`t going at some stupidly high price. That said, I`m very glad the first one sold so well as it is a truly excellent game that I feared would be overlooked at retail. It goes some small way to restore my faith in humanity.

  • thedaveeyres #16 3 years ago

    MORE LAYTON, MORE!

  • secombe #17 3 years ago

    Wasn't the story that the original shipments were caught up by pirates?

    It was certainly an odd situation as it was still largely unavailable during fairly quiet times, then all of a sudden jumped right up into the top of the all-formats chart.

  • Mayhem64 #18 3 years ago

    Great to hear the rest of the games should be making their way Westwards...

    As for the supply issues over Xmas, I heard it was due to stock being caught up in Entertainment UK's warehouses (as they did a lot of distribution) while Woolies went down the pan, and then was freed up when the situation resolved itself post Xmas.
    Edited by 1 at 26/03/09 @ 18:41