Since you are a dev, can you give an estimate of how much would it cost to localize a game and test it, if possible? I mean there is already a version of the game in Japan so all it requires is localization, QA and certification.
/justcurious
It's an RPG, so I can't really put a number on it since I haven't shipped one of those. But I can at least try to explain the costs associated that I have experience with.
First, Square usually localizes its own text instead of using contractors, and they likely get paid more than contractors would.
But localization from Japanese to English, from a contractor, is usually around 22-25 cents a word. And you're probably looking at 100k words minimum for an RPG, but probably a lot more.
QA testing is probably the biggest cost, also because Square typically uses internal testers.
But even if you're using contractors, you're still looking at 5-10 people playing through the game for a month or more at $15-25 an hour.
Now, since the PS4 and Steam versions are coming, Vita could potentially be done after the other versions are tested and fixed, as a sort of "final sweep." But how much in the way there are in savings here really depends on how different the versions are - for example, if the UI is different, that's going to affect text in every single instance, and require more attention than a basic functionality pass.
Since it would've already passed SCEJ, which is the strictest of the SCEs, the code is probably clean. And changing to English likely wouldn't have any negative impacts in terms of stability because it requires less memory than Japanese. So the testing would likely be entirely focused on the localization.
As for Sony certification, this doesn't cost anything unless you fail twice.