In a short Twitter message, Sega announced they had delayed Yakuza 6: The Song of Life from March 20th to April 17th. No reason was provided for the delay, which comes roughly a month and a half before the originally scheduled release in mid-March. Instead, the Twitter post said it was a "tough business decision [Sega] didn't take lightly." The delay does come with a new demo of Yakuza 6, which will be available on February 27th. Upon full release of Yakuza 6, you will be able to transfer your demo saves and keep all progress. Hopefully, the demo will keep fans of Yakuza satisfied until its new release date of April 17th, 2018.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vk3Q7HcUGbk
Yakuza 6: The Song of Life comes as Sega is in the midst of a wildly successful revival of the Yakuza series. With Kiwami and 0 coming West in recent years, plus the extremely positive reception that Yakuza 6 garnered in Japan, Sega has much to be proud of recently. Yakuza 6: The Song of Life introduces a new setting to the game: Onomichi, Hiroshima. If you're worried about the change in scenery, fear not, as Tokyo's iconic red-light district still features heavily. Yakuza 6 is set three years after the events of Yakuza 5 after Kazuma Kiryu served a stint in prison. Kazuma is left wondering what happened to his old allies and attempting to restart his own life.
The tweet closes with "We have many new plans to reveal in the coming weeks to give you all more insight into the series, so stay tuned!" Clearly hinting at more Yakuza news to come, Sega has made no indication of what their future holds. With the delay of Yakuza 6 until mid-April, it is now squarely competing with the God of War reboot, which is set to be released on April 20th. Other future releases are still not tied down, but many would wager that the second quarter of 2018 will only get more crowded as it approaches. In the meantime, mark your calendars for a return to Tokyo and Hiroshima for Yakuza 6: The Song of Life on April 17th.
