PS4 Demo For Yakuza 6 Pulled Because The Full Game Is Playable

Update 2: Sega has now confirmed that it did indeed pull the demo because players were able to access more than intended. "We apologize, but have had to remove the Yakuza 6: The Song of Life demo from the PlayStation Store," it said on Twitter. "We are as upset as you are, and had hoped to have this demo available for everyone today. We discovered that some were able to use the demo to unlock the full game. We're looking into the nature of the issue. Thank you for your patience."

Update: The Yakuza 6 demo has now been pulled from the PlayStation Store, at least in the US. The unusually large size of the demo is apparently due to the fact that the entire game is included, though only the prologue should be accessible. However, players have reportedly found a way to access more--possibly the entire game. We have not been able to verify this as of yet, but the demo is indeed gone from PSN for the time being. We've reached out to Sega and will report back with anything more we learn. The original story follows.

Sega had some disappointing news to share earlier this year when it delayed Yakuza 6: The Song of Life, but it did make up for that by announcing that it would release a demo of the upcoming PS4 game. It's already begun to launch in some markets around the world where it's already February 27. If you're eager to start playing, you might want to call your ISP and upgrade your internet speed now.

While still dwarfed by the size of full games, for a demo, Yakuza 6's trial is enormous--it weighs in at 36.53 GB. It's available now on Australia's PlayStation Store and should be available as the calendar turns to Tuesday elsewhere around the world. The PSN listing describes the demo as consisting of the game's prologue. As a result, you can probably expect a fair number of cutscenes, which may explain the demo's large size. [Update: The demo is also now available in the west, including on the US PlayStation Store.]

Sega previously announced that your save data from the demo version can be carried over into the full game, which is now due out on April 17 in North America and Europe. That's almost a full month later than the previously scheduled March 20 release date. An explanation for the delay was not shared, with Sega simply stating, "This was a tough business decision we didn't make lightly."

Yakuza 6 has been available in Japan since December 2016. Western localizations of Yakuza games have typically taken a long time, as players of Yakuza 5--which released internationally three years after its Japanese launch--can attest. We recently got a good look at Yakuza 6 and its improved visuals, as you can see in the video above. For even more, check out our deep dive into the history of Yakuza.