Like a Dragon Gaiden – Will be a digital-only game in the West

Like a Dragon Gaiden – Will be a digital-only game in the West.

Just in case you haven’t heard yet, Sega dropped some news that you might find interesting — or a bit disappointing. The anticipated Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name is not getting a physical release in the Western part of the world. Hold onto your chairs if you’re anxiously waiting to grab that game on your PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, and PC. Come November 9; you can swiftly download it straight to your console. Well, except if you’re in Japan, it’s getting a legit physical release. Oh, and in case you’re wondering, this bit of news confirms what the epic Ryu Ga Gotoku fan channel, KamurochoBros, was buzzing about last month. They chatted with retailers that had the lowdown from Sega – no boxed copy for the U.S., folks.

Sweeten the Deal with a Pre-order

Now, don’t get too bummed out. Here’s a silver lining for you. If you hurry and pre-order the game, which is $49.99 / £44.99, not only do you get the main dish, but there’s a tantalizing side too. You’ll snag a Legendary Fighter Pack, letting you interact with much-loved characters from past Yakuza episodes. So, come on, what are you waiting for?

Remedy’s Take on Alan Wake 2 Release

Okay, switch gears for a moment. Let’s talk about Remedy, the brains behind Alan Wake 2. They’ve piped up and told us all that the sequel is hitting the online shelves in October. Yep, another digital-only release. You might be asking why, and they have a couple of reasons. Firstly, they can see we’ve all gotten pretty cozy with digital-only gaming. It’s kinda the norm now, especially with the sleek disc-less design of the Sony PlayStation 5 and the download-only Microsoft Xbox Series S. Secondly, keeping it digital helps them keep the wallet hit at a $59.99 / €59.99 [£49.99] tag for the console version or $49.99 / €49.99 [£39.99] if you’re rocking a PC.

Finally, Remedy loves us gamers, and they don’t want to make us load a disc to sit and wait while the game downloads. They believe it doesn’t make sense. They’re all for a seamless experience.

Is a Digital-Only Era Nigh?

According to our friendly neighborhood forecast expert, Circana (formerly NPD) analyst Mat Piscatella, we live on time borrowed from discs. Digital-only console releases will become the go-to gig in the next few years. He’s betting on it being a run-of-the-mill thing for Xbox and PlayStation releases by 2028. Nintendo, though? They may well march to the beat of their own drum, as they always do. Classic Nintendo, always shaking things up!