Working Designs may have shut down more than half a decade ago now, but that doesn’t mean resorting to expensive auctions on eBay is the sole way of getting your hands on some of the old PlayStation games it localized for North America. After its closure, former WD boss Victor Ireland went on to found Gaijinworks, which brought both Arc The Lad and Alundra to the PlayStation Network last year as PSone Classics. The next such game, Vanguard Bandits, will be out sooner than you may expect — and it won’t be the last.
Working Designs was a publisher that focused on introducing Japanese games to a western audience that otherwise wouldn’t have gotten to experience them in English. It’s a much more common practice nowadays, but years ago WD made a name for itself in that business. It was also well known for the liberties it took in localizing some games.
Posting in a NeoGAF thread about the release of Alundra and Arc the Lad, Ireland stated that Vanguard Bandits is the next port coming up. It’ll likely be out in either October or November on the North American PlayStation Network. Unlike Alundra and Arc, which cost $5.99 each, Ireland described Vanguard as “a difficult re-license.” In other words, it’ll cost more than usual; he pegged “$8.99 or so” as a possible price.
