It looks like Yakuza Kiwami won't be getting a physical release on Nintendo Switch

If you were hoping for a physical release for the upcoming Nintendo Switch version of Yakuza Kiwami, then we’ve got some bad news.

As spotted by Nintendo Everything, the official Japanese X / Twitter account of developer Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio posted that the game will be “download distribution only” (translated from Japanese with X / Twitter’s in-built translation tool). The developer’s English account posted soon after that Yakuza Kiwami will be available “on the Nintendo eShop”, without mention of a physical release.

『龍が如く極』がNintendo Switchにシリーズ初登場！発売日：2024年10月25日（金）価格：2,980円（税込）ダウンロード配信専用▼公式サイトhttps://t.co/dfSNS8vHHz#龍が如く極 pic.twitter.com/pLV3ZZZfSVAugust 27, 2024

This is definitely a shame for those hoping to add Yakuza Kiwami to their physical Switch collection. But there is some good news in that the highly-praised remake, which is launching on October 25 for Nintendo Switch, will be priced at around $19.99 / £14.99. If you’ve yet to properly dive into the Yakuza / Like a Dragon franchise, this is an ideal starting point and a very reasonable price to boot.

Yakuza Kiwami is a remake of the original Yakuza title which came out for the PlayStation 2 all the way back in 2005. The game introduced the world to protagonist Kazuma Kiryu – an officer of the Tojo Clan criminal organization – whom in this initial outing takes the fall for his boss’s murder. After a decade in jail, Kiryu must acclimate to modern life in the city of Kamurocho and save the clan from a dark fate.

While certainly rough around the edges, the very first Yakuza title introduced the world to its gripping and heavily political storytelling, balanced out with a gut-busting sense of humor and a wide range of incredible and memorable characters that appear in the series to this day. Having no physical release on Nintendo Switch is definitely a bummer, but we highly recommend the game nonetheless. Especially if you can work your way up to modern releases such as the brilliant Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth.