Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name Won’t Likely Have a Physical Release

It seems that another non-indie game will be skipping a physical release. Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio recently tweeted that Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name will probably only be available on digital storefronts in most territories.

The studio’s tweet explicitly states that the game will be “available for download” on November 9, its release date. The choice of words strongly suggests that a physical release is unlikely in the West. However, collectors or physical game enthusiasts might still be able to import a disc version for PlayStation systems in Japan. We have reached out to Sega for clarification and will update this story if we receive a response.

Kamurocho Bros., a dedicated YouTube channel for the Like a Dragon series, had actually discovered this information back in June. The channel reported that retailers mentioned the absence of a physical ESRB version for Gaiden.

This is the second notable game in the near future to forego a physical release. Remedy Entertainment also announced that Alan Wake 2 will only be released digitally. This decision was made in order to keep the price down and give the development team more time to polish the game. Without the need to press discs, the game’s finalization can be postponed slightly, allowing for a more complete version at launch.

“By going digital-only, it allows us more time to polish the game,” said game director Kyle Rowley. “We can spend a significant amount of weeks on it. Otherwise, the game that goes on the disc needs to be playable without a patch. We didn’t want to release something that we weren’t proud of and that we didn’t want players to experience. This way, we can provide a better version of the game.”