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Update: The Yakuza 6 Demo Is Back Online
Update #2: The demo has returned to the PlayStation store, per Sega and Sony's statement.
Update: On the Yakuza Subreddit, a Sega representative explained the current status of the demo, but did not have answers for when it would return.
Will my account be banned for playing the full game? No. Absolutely not. We hope you enjoyed you “advance” preview of the later chapters in the game. Sounds like you did!
Will my save game file transfer over? Yes! All of that time you spent with Kiryu will carry over when the full game releases, so no time in-game is lost. However, trophies will not carry over to the full game when it is released and will need to be earned again.
We will update you as soon as we have more information on the status of the demo.
If you have the demo downloaded, your license to play it has likely already been revoked. Some players were able to finish the game in the time between discovery of the full game and the licenses being revoked.
The original story from February 27 is as follows:
Sega has pulled the Yakuza 6 demo from PSN on its day after release after some intrepid players discovered ways around the story gating progress to play the entire full game.
As we reported yesterday, the Yakuza 6 demo came in at a huge 36GB, essentially downloading the full game with the ability to progress stopping midway through the first chapter. It did not take long for people to figure a way around this, however, and have been posting screenshots from the English localization through the game's third chapter. As a response, Sega pulled the demo from PSN less than a day after putting it up.
“We apologize, but have had to remove the Yakuza 6 :The Song of Life demo from the PlayStation Store," Sega said on social media. "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.”
It is unknown if the existing demo will be patched or turned off in any way. Yakuza 6 is scheduled to release exclusively on PlayStation 4 on April 17.
Our Take
This isn't particularly surprising and I am hard-pressed to think of a situation where having more data in a demo didn't result in people finding ways to access it. Still, hopefully Sega can get a demo out on PSN soon, as I'm sure many are eager to try it.
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