Yakuza: Like a Dragon, the series' first foray into the RPG genre, was a massive hit among old and new fans and an undeniable sales success for Sega. But, while it did launch as one of the first games available for Microsoft's new Xbox Series X/S consoles, PlayStation 5 owners have been left waiting a few extra months to enjoy the game on Sony's new hardware.
Fortunately, anyone who bought Yakuza: Like a Dragon for the PlayStation 4 was also guaranteed a free upgrade to the PS5 version once it became available, which has been one of the key appeals of many cross-gen titles. But now the day is finally here and it's been reported that not everyone can access the upgrade.
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Normally, PS5 owners simply need to head to the game's page on the PlayStation Store or in their library and can download the upgrade from there, but Yakuza: Like a Dragon isn't giving some people that option. Apparently, the issue is only affecting those who bought the game digitally, as people who own a physical PS4 copy have been able to obtain the upgrade with no issues.
There have been no reports of this happening with other free PS5 upgrades so this instance is very bizarre. People are understandably frustrated but, thankfully, the issue has been raised with both Sony and RGG Studio, with the latter saying it hopes to have the situation resolved as soon as possible. As it stands, though, there is no estimated time for how much longer people will have to wait.
As a reminder, the PS5 version of the game features updated visuals and runs at 60fps in 4K. Unfortunately, save data can't be transferred so PS4 players wanting to experience the game on PS5 will need to start from scratch.
While it's nothing too horrendous, the situation is undeniably annoying for Yakuza fans. Recently, fans have also had to deal with framerate issues and bugs in the PC version of Yakuza Remastered Collection, a compilation of the three mainline games originally released for the PlayStation 3. Thankfully, those issues have been addressed by a fan-made patch.
These issues are unlikely to blemish the series' reputation, which has gradually become one of Sega's most prolific franchises over the last few years. Between Like a Dragon and the remastered collection coming to PC and Xbox Game Pass, it's arguably more popular than ever. Long-time fans are even hopeful that the more obscure Japan-only spin-offs will be remade and brought to the West, especially after the series' producer admitted he'd be interested in doing that.
Yakuza: Like a Dragon is available on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.