Earlier this year, it was announced by Aksys games that BlazBlue: Central Fiction would not be getting an English dub. Aksys games via their Twitter essentially said that it was a matter of saving time and that not releasing a dub would allow them to get the game to the North American market quicker. They also put emphasis on the fact that a dub was not in the works and there would be no re-release for BlazBlue: Central Fiction.
Fans of the BlazBlue franchise did not take kindly to hearing that the game would not get an English dub and went as far as releasing a Change.org petition. The petition itself references the fact that many fans have expressed their disappointment with the lack of an English Dub. A lot of the disappointment probably stemmed from the fact that this game, marks the end of Ragna’s storyline, a story that fans of the series have been following for years.
The English voice actor who does the voice of Ragna, Patrick Seitz took to Facebook to express his own disappointment with the decision against the English dub. The post is mainly Seitz venting frustration about the impersonal nature with which this business was conducted. As he says himself, “I’m especially disappointed to be getting [the news] via tweet. Reaching out to the cast would have been a simple enough courtesy for Aksys to extend.” Considering Seitz and many other voice actors have been the same since the dubbing of BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger in 2008, the frustration makes sense. It is understandable that after investing 8 years of work into a franchise to suddenly be cut out of it would lead someone to be upset. As Seitz puts it, “At the end of the day, I’m a fan, too…I’m saying that as someone who, like you, has spent the last eight years with these characters.” Patrick Seitz’s full Facebook post regarding the exclusion of an English dub for BlazBlue: Central Fiction can be read here.
The North American release date has not yet been announced but BlazBlue: Central Fiction will be available Winter 2016 in North America and October 6th in Japan on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 3.