UPDATE: SEGA PR manager John Hardin tweeted a response to fans, stating that he already asked about a physical version long ago, but that it was “nigh impossible”. In a follow-up tweet by Limited Run Games, Hardin further explained that the problem was not the lack of a distributor. Nonetheless, he said Limited Run Games could send him an e-mail to detail their case.
Original article:
Limited Run Games, a company focusing in releasing physical versions of games which have previously been released in digital form only, have expressed interest in releasing a physical copy of Yakuza 5. As pointed out by Yakuza fansite TojoHQ, LimitedRunGames explained in a NeoGAF thread what it would mean to distribute physical copies of a game like Yakuza 5:
So we need to ask….
The whole thing about us going after bigger games like Fatal Frame, Yakuza, etc, is that they wouldn’t be part of the LRG line. We would just be paying to be the sole distributor basically. We would have to charge more than our normal price. For example Yakuza 5 would be $45-$60 and we would have to order at least 5,000 copies, but in some cases for other games we would order up to 10,000, maybe more.
So what we want to know is, would you honestly pay that price? We don’t want people to think if we get a huge game that we can magically make the price $24.99-$30. We would have to buy these games at bulk from the publisher. BUT it would mean that a physical copy would actually exist and we would have access to even more titles in the future if this did well.
For this to happen however, Limited Run Games would first need to work out a deal with SEGA. In a recent tweet, they asked fans who want a physical copy of Yakuza 5 to let SEGA know about it. Although we’d like to ask people not to spam the social media accounts of SEGA needlessly. Consider using hashtags (for example something like #LimitedRunYakuza5) rather than including @SEGA in every tweet.
Clarification – we *want* to distribute a physical Yakuza 5 and totally understand the demand. Let @SEGA know you want it through us.
— Limited Run Games (@LimitedRunGames) May 3, 2016
The above was a follow-up to a tweet from Twitter user (and one of our followers), leadoffusa1, who asked LimitedRunGames about a physical release for Yakuza 5.
Many fans had expressed their disappointment at the lack of physical release of Yakuza 5, much like with the digital-only release of Project DIVA f (PS Vita). In Europe, Dengeki Bunko Fighting Climax also did not receive a physical release. While digital games are becoming more and more popular, physical versions of console games (especially collector’s editions) are still in demand.
Wow those numbers seem quite low, 5k sales would have been covered pretty fast if it launched that way, problem is distribution I guess, I have no idea how those LRG distribute their games. But the fans asked a year before launch to make a preorder site for limited physical copies and they didn’t consider it at all.
We’ve updated the article with more information. It seems it’s unlikely to happen, and the problems isn’t with the lack of distributors.
I guessed at the time digital was the only way they’d get localization costs back, even if they don’t “lose” money on the distribution. Better digital than nothing.
I agree on that!