Taiko no Tatsujin — also known as Taiko: Drum Master — has been largely absent in the West since the original console version arrived on the PlayStation 2 in 2004, but it looks like things could be changing soon as Bandai Namco has recently filed three trademarks related to the series in Europe, suggesting a Western release is on the way.
Here are the three trademarks in question:
There isn’t much to be said about the first trademark, but the other two are more notable since they allude to more recent entries in the series. Specifically, Drum Session! is the subtitle for Taiko Drum Master: Drum Session! which arrived on the PlayStation 4 in Oct. 2017, while Drum ‘n’ Fun is likely the English subtitle for the upcoming Taiko Drum Master: Nintendo Switch Version which is due to arrive in Japan on July 19 and recently trademarked on the Australian Classification Board earlier this month.
To be clear, Taiko no Tatsujin titles has been available in English in other instances outside the first, but those weren’t official English releases. Rather, they were SEA (Southeast Asia) releases with English subtitles or fan-made patches, meaning players would need to import them or download them, respectively.
Thankfully, the release of a legitimate English version would allow players to circumvent that hassle, allowing them to get the game with minimal effort. That said, there is one important thing players might want to keep an eye out for in the future: the song list.
The available songs in Taiko no Tatsujin usually change depending on the region and version, and its likely the same would occur with the English version. And since Bandai Namco has yet to officially announce anything, you might want to hold off on importing Taiko Drum Master: Nintendo Switch Version until more information is available.
Outside of that caveat, this is definitely an exciting moment for fans who’ve been waiting for Taiko no Tatsujin to properly return to the West. Let’s just hope we get the peripherals when it does.
