Wide-eyed gamers received a surprise early on Wednesday as the action-adventure video game "Yakuza 6: The Song of Life" was accidentally made the full game available for free as they activated the U.S. PlayStation Store demo version.
It was originally intended to be released as a full preview, but only with selected premiere sections available for initial trial and gameplay. As a result, SEGA decided to remove the game from the PlayStation Store demo as quick-minded users discovered how to unlock the full free version of it.
The game, published and developed for SEGA by PlayStation 4, serves as the seventh entry in the Yakuza game series. It is best described as a third-person role-play game set in an open world environment.
SEGA released a statement on its official Twitter page as an apology for pulling the plug on the demo as a result of the fallout.
We apologize, but have had to remove the Yakuza 6: The Song of Life demo from the PlayStation Store. 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. 1/2
— SEGA (@SEGA) February 27, 2018 " data-caption="Sega's official apology after removing the demo of 'Yakuza 6' from the Playstation store" data-credit="Twitter/@SEGA">Sega posted a follow-up tweet saying that they were looking into "the nature of the issue" and thanked fans for their patience. Unintentionally, the company uploaded the whole 36.53 GB download size, and fans who were able to unlock it were able to enjoy it without paying a single centavo.
Naturally, the decision to pull the demo out caused an uproar among fans and gamers who have been waiting for "Yakuza 6" to be released. Originally slated for a March distribution, the game has already been pulled back for an April release instead, even before the leak happened on Feb. 28.
However, players might be appeased by the fact that all the progress made on the demo will be carried over to the full game. The demo was supposed to be an introduction to update the players on what "Yakuza 6: The Song of Life" protagonist Kazuma Kiryu has been up to, as well as practice combat techniques and take part in some mini-games.
As for the worldwide release date, there has been no word yet from the game developers as to whether they will decide to push it back again. For now, expect the full version to be up for sale on Apr. 17.
