SEGA removes Yakuza 6 demo (in the US) because players were able to unlock full game

at this point, I expect them to just update the game to make the non demo parts unaccessible, which I'm fine with.

I'm buying the game regardless...though I will admit it's nice playing VF5FS on a modern console right now.

IronicSonic said:

It's funny because it's similar to the new Daytona situation.

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What happened there?

And here i was thinking i got the longest demo of all time...

Can't they also release a mandatory patch for those who already downloaded it?

It reminds me a bit of how you could access the full Xbox version of Capcom vs. SNK2 via a demo disc back in the day.

ValKiryuSonicEX said:

at this point, I expect them to just update the game to make the non demo parts unaccessible, which I'm fine with.

I'm buying the game regardless...though I will admit it's nice playing VF5FS on a modern console right now.


What happened there?

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https://www.resetera.com/threads/sega-has-released-daytona-usa-3-as-a-free-download-on-pc.14064/

Warrior of Light said:

Can't they also release a mandatory patch for those who already downloaded it?

It reminds me a bit of how you could access the full Xbox version of Capcom vs. SNK2 via a demo disc back in the day.

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They can, but if you take your PS4 offline and don't reconnect until you're done with the game, not much they can do.

I'm glad they seemed to catch this pretty quickly and mitigate most damage. I didn't even realize the demo was out.

Yakuza 6 (and the rest of the series) deserves your money!

Plumpbiscuit said:

Got any links to the full story about this?

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I don't, but I can tell you what I know. I got one back when it came out in the mid-90's. It had like the first 10 levels or so of Quake, just like the old Doom demo which was very generous. I played those levels to death, and then at one point I realized that if you just put the disc into a CD player you could listen to the amazing Trent Reznor soundtrack as well, which was already a huge bonus.

Also on the disc was the full version of Quake, and the full versions of Wolfenstein 3d, Doom, Doom II, Heretic, Hexen, and all of the add-on level packs for those games. This was before digital distribution, so the idea was you could call ID and pay them for the games you wanted and they would give you a code to unlock them. One of my friends found a key generator online that would spit out a code you could copy and paste in and we had the entire ID catalog like 5 minutes later.

*please don't ban me for talking about piracy this was like over 20 years ago and I'm now an honest adult with a job who buys my own games*

But for real it was like the 90's version of the Orange Box but even better because it was free.

Outrun said:

I wish that Sega would accidently release Outrun 3...

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They can't accidently release things not in existence.

Reminds of how all games in the Xbox live arcade used to work like this, basically every demo was the full game gated, so if you purchased the game you wouldnt have to download it again.

Tailzo said:

I've had Yakuza 6 preordered for a while already. This doesn't change anything for me, but I hope it wiil not affect sales much.

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I doubt it will affect sales at all.

Mullet2000 said:

They can, but if you take your PS4 offline and don't reconnect until you're done with the game, not much they can do.

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Of course, but a lot of people aren't going to think that far ahead - if they even heard about this before it's too late. The longer SEGA holds off on patching it the more people are going to play it.

Damn. Any word on when they'll post the correct demo on the NA PSN store? I was looking forward to trying this.

Tarot Deck said:

I doubt it will affect sales at all.

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Yeah I mean the demo was only up for what, four or five hours, and it released at like what 9 in the morning? On a tuesday?

Likely the vast majority of the people who got it were massive Yakuza fans hitting F5 on the PS Store all night because the US demo was so late vs Europe. Sure there might be a few who picked it up on a whim but I would expect a lot of the people who got it will still end up buying the game due to the horrors of past Sega retaliation on the fans when they didn't bring over quite a bit of Yakuza 3, Kenzan, the Black Panther games, Ishin, or even Yakuza 5 without a Sony moneyhat. Yakuza fans more than most understand the consequences of not showing up, and I doubt they bail when Hokuto and Shin RGG are still up in the air.

IronicSonic said:

https://www.resetera.com/threads/sega-has-released-daytona-usa-3-as-a-free-download-on-pc.14064/

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Wow, holy shit.

I think Sega should just release the game early now because of this, at least digitally. There are a lot of people including myself already playing the game right now almost two months from launch who intend to buy the game. If the launch was delayed further because of logistic issues with physical copies then just launch it early digitally.

I can't remember the name but wasn't there was a game a year or two ago which got launched earlier than originally planned after the game was leaked early?

NZerker12 said:

The question that should be asked is if the full game was made available then why are we waiting until April to get it.

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This, wtf.

We had a seven-page thread on this yesterday, too

Goro Majima said:

But wait...if you couldn't unlock all game, why they are waiting until April to release the game if it is apparently ready?

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Because it was probably delayed because of manufacturing problems with the various items in the collector's edition

Nooblet said:

I think Sega should just release the game early now because of this, at least digitally. There are a lot of people including myself already playing the game right now almost two months from launch who intend to buy the game. If the launch was delayed further because of logistic issues with physical copies then just launch it early digitally.

I can't remember the name but wasn't there was a game a year or two ago which got launched earlier than originally planned after the game was leaked early?

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Wouldn't be fair to retailers who Sega has contracted to stock physical copies the game

best PR move imo would be a statement saying congrats, enjoy your free game, tell your friends and buy it if you really enjoy it while they upload a new demo.

theyll get a ton of good press and people will have the full game anyways so they can turn it into a positive.

Nooblet said:

I think Sega should just release the game early now because of this, at least digitally. There are a lot of people including myself already playing the game right now almost two months from launch who intend to buy the game.

If the launch was delayed further because of logistic issues with physical copies then just launch it early digitally.

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Zero chance of this happening. Retailers would be furious, and a rando launch would be Saturn esque in it's damage to word of mouth.

At best they cut their losses and let people keep it, but that's not going to happen or if it does I'd put the chances at 0.001%. A slightly less far shot is they let people who bought or buy it on PSN keep it. What probably happens is that they just revoke the licenses and shut up about it. They could ban people who keep playing it after revocation (even possible to confirm this offline via eventual trophy sync whenever you next come online), but I doubt it.

Chessguy1 said:

best PR move imo would be a statement saying congrats, enjoy your free game, tell your friends and buy it if you really enjoy it while they upload a new demo.

theyll get a ton of good press and people will have the full game anyways.

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It's sega tho, not valve. Not to mention Y being a niche series I doubt they just let those *potential* sales go.

I bought the demo. I guess I should download it.

Do you have to do anything special to unlock the full playthrough, or is it literally just the full game accidentally masquerading as a demo?

Keeping my preorder anyway. Got It for VF5.

Leona Lewis said:

I bought the demo. I guess I should download it.

Do you have to do anything special to unlock the full playthrough, or is it literally just the full game accidentally masquerading as a demo?

Keeping my preorder anyway. Got It for VF5.

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They literally just accidentally uploaded the review build instead of the demo.

pa22word said:

They literally just accidentally uploaded the review build instead of the demo.

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Wow.

I'm surprised Wario64 wasn't on this. All I saw from his feed was that the demo had been uploaded.

I think that Sega will let it go. I doubt their analysis will show that more than a couple hundred (or thousand max) users downloaded the demo, and the hype that these evangelists sow will more than outweigh the lost sales from these people and from the people who feel burned that they missed out.

I have the full game, and it's been pretty solid so far. Downloaded the demo on a whim, as I never played the previous instalments before.

Oh wow, I'm glad I was awake to queue up the demo via the web store, and I'm even happier that my PS4 downloaded and installed it without me even turning it on!

As a big fan of the series, I'll be taking my console offline to give it a playthrough, but not before I pre-order the actual game. <3 Yakuza <3

I'm exclusively digital these days so it's really strange to play a game early. Feels like I found a street-date-breaking mom and pop store.

Well... on one side I'm sad I missed this.

On the flip side, it wouldn't have made a difference as I already have the pre order money down. I want to support Sega for the Yakuza franchise. I want them to bring over Kiwami 2 soon.

Goro Majima said:

But wait...if you couldn't unlock all game, why they are waiting until April to release the game if it is apparently ready?

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Probably to arrange shipment of physical copies, or it's a date assigned by Sony.

So those of us that had downloaded the demo yesterday (North America) what happens do we still keep it? I already had the After Hours edition preordered so they will still get my money but do I truly have the full game? Hopefully they can patch it because I do not want to re-download the whole thing again.

I know this has happened in the past. have game licenses ever been revoked?

Lol I had zero interest in this game saw the demo and said why not and free game lol

super bummed I missed this, I only saw warios tweet about it which was too late. Not a complete loss though, I am playing yakuza 0 now which is great and will probably last me a good while

Duke Togo said:

Damn. Any word on when they'll post the correct demo on the NA PSN store? I was looking forward to trying this.

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yeah, i'm confused. where's the real demo, that was supposed to be available? gotta be somewhere nearby, right? :) ...

Tyaren said:

The demo didn't even release on German PSN. Does anyone know why?

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Doesn't the German law/ratings board take issue with violent content being available for free? I seem to recall certain demos being locked behind PS+ in Germany before for that reason.

when people get stuff for free cause of an error makes me not want to buy the game anymore.. Only reason I didn't dl demo was because the game was an auto buy.

I am in chapter 2, collecting cats. Didn't even know I was past the end of the demo.

From this point forward there should be actual demos put up on the store with appropriate game size. I just got a PS4 and I'm baffled that I have to download a full 60+GB game just to play a demo.

BlackLagoon said:

Doesn't the German law/ratings board take issue with violent content being available for free? I seem to recall certain demos being locked behind PS+ in Germany before for that reason.

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Yes, that is the case, but the Yakuza 6 demo doesn't appear in the German PSN store at all.

Well I got the demo, but I still haven't beaten 5 so...guess this is kind of wasted on me. Might just jump in anyway since I heard 5 wasn't the best and some stuff was already accidentally spoiled for me. Not cancelling my limited edition though, have to support SEGA for giving the series a second life in the West.

Powdered Egg said:

From this point forward there should be actual demos put up on the store with appropriate game size. I just got a PS4 and I'm baffled that I have to download a full 60+GB game just to play a demo.

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It's not 60+GB. It's 36GB and the download itself is probably a bit smaller than that and the 36GB is the install size.

I claimed the demo yesterday but didn't download it. However, last night I started the download via the PC/Mobile Store and still was able to get the full version I think. I launched the game in the morning and didn't have the "Demo Version" on the splash screen. So, if anyone claimed the demo but didn't download it, give it a try.

Zophar said:

Yakuza 6 (and the rest of the series) deserves your money!

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Even if I had the full version, I placed my pre-order yesterday too. Yakuza will always get my money

I Hope people will buy the game. The yakuza franchise IS going out from niche. Is à very great game and deserved many other game and a locate in many language. Abuse of this shitty bug risk seal the future of the game.

Mr. Nice_Guy said:

Well I got the demo, but I still haven't beaten 5 so...guess this is kind of wasted on me. Might just jump in anyway since I heard 5 wasn't the best and some stuff was already accidentally spoiled for me. Not cancelling my limited edition though, have to support SEGA for giving the series a second life in the West.

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The first half hour of the game is basically a total series recap of everything and everyone that's going to be important to 6. I wouldn't really worry about missing 5, honestly.

I was honestly pretty shocked at how well they implemented the recap. Mostly optional for fans coming in who've played the games, and very informative and brisk for the people that didn't. I can pretty comfortably say to people after that opening that anyone who's just played 0+K or even just K will be fine coming straight into this game.

I think I'll just buy the game off PS store today if I am to continue playing this rather than wait for it to launch if I am to finish it before it comes out.

Leona Lewis said:

Wow.

I'm surprised Wario64 wasn't on this. All I saw from his feed was that the demo had been uploaded.

I think that Sega will let it go. I doubt their analysis will show that more than a couple hundred (or thousand max) users downloaded the demo, and the hype that these evangelists sow will more than outweigh the lost sales from these people and from the people who feel burned that they missed out.

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It was because there was no way to tell until you got to the point where it was suppose to cut you off. it just took a minute for people to realized with Yakuza and its extra long cutscenes The game being that large of a download was expected because it was done in a way so that your progress would continued once it was released at retail

I mean, it's not abuse of a bug. They released the full game by accident. You make it sound like we're using some sort of shady means to circumvent the demo. I assure you that is not the case.

Mr. Nice_Guy said:

Well I got the demo, but I still haven't beaten 5 so...guess this is kind of wasted on me. Might just jump in anyway since I heard 5 wasn't the best and some stuff was already accidentally spoiled for me. Not cancelling my limited edition though, have to support SEGA for giving the series a second life in the West.

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I played Y4 and not Y5, but chapter 1 in Y6 to me felt like it picked up after Y4 and Y5 was a filler episode or something. Like all the dialog in chapter 1 just felt like a time skip happened between seasons in an anime series

I am one of the lucky people who got the full game downloaded. It's crazy, I had no idea until I was in chapter 2 and was starting to feel "This demo is kinda long huh?" Then I saw a tweet about what had happened and that's how I found out I was playing the full game. After disconnecting my PS4 from the internet I kept playing and I'm now on chapter 4 (the demo was supposed to stop progressing at the end of chapter 1). I can't believe this happened. So far I haven't had any problems. I've had the After Hours edition pre-ordered for a year now and I'm still going to pay for it of course. I love the series and really want Kiwami 2 and Hokuto ga Gotoku to come out in the West.

edit: also, they're calling it an "exploit" but there was no special trick or glitch required at all. Like I said, I didn't even know I was beyond what the demo was supposed to include until I looked at twitter. They accidentally released the full game. Other regions that have the intended version have "Demo Version" in the corner of the title screen, mine doesn't. The only thing that indicates it's a demo is the game icon on the PS4 home screen that has "Prologue" on it.

Samwa said:

I am one of the lucky people who got the full game downloaded. It's crazy, I had no idea until I was in chapter 2 and was starting to feel "This demo is kinda long huh?" Then I saw a tweet about what had happened and that's how I found out I was playing the full game. After disconnecting my PS4 from the internet I kept playing and I'm now on chapter 4 (the demo was supposed to stop progressing at the end of chapter 1). I can't believe this happened. So far I haven't had any problems. I've had the After Hours edition pre-ordered for a year now and I'm still going to pay for it of course. I love the series and really want Kiwami 2 and Hokuto ga Gotoku to come out in the West.

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Livin the dream.

pa22word said:

The first half hour of the game is basically a total series recap of everything and everyone that's going to be important to 6. I wouldn't really worry about missing 5, honestly.

I was honestly pretty shocked at how well they implemented the recap. Mostly optional for fans coming in who've played the games, and very informative and brisk for the people that didn't. I can pretty comfortably say to people after that opening that anyone who's just played 0+K or even just K will be fine coming straight into this game.

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Justified said:

I played Y4 and not Y5, but chapter 1 in Y6 to me felt like it picked up after Y4 and Y5 was a filler episode or something. Like all the dialog in chapter 1 just felt like a time skip happened between seasons in an anime series

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Okay cool thanks for the heads up! I've played 0 through 4, and all I've ever heard of 5 was that it dragged on and not even 1/4 of the way through it I was already feeling it a little bit which is why I took a break from it. Glad I know I can skip it for now and jump right into 6.

download complete

network disconnected

pussy [REDACTED]

Just buy the game, guys.