After this morning's reveal of when Yakuza: Like a Dragon would be releasing on PS5, developer Ryu Ga Gotoku Studios took to Twitter to answer some fan questions about the transition to the next-generation consoles in the coming months. The first confirmation we got is that the disc-based PS4 version will be eligible for an upgrade, which was curiously absent from this morning's announcement. The other relates to save data and the news isn't so good.
One of the biggest features on Microsoft's Xbox Series X is that players will be able to seamlessly transfer their games and save data from Xbox One over to the new platform. Like a Dragon is right there with that, supporting Smart Delivery and letting players upgrade their games with no hassle. The PS5 version of Like a Dragon is at least free, but your save data from the PS4 version won't be compatible.
At this point, I believe this has to be a system-level issue with the PS5. Along with Spider-Man: Remastered and Maneater, Like a Dragon marks the third next-gen upgrade that won't have compatible save data. It makes me wonder if other planned upgrades will also not share save data, though publishers and devs haven't clarified that for their titles.
It's at least nice that you won't need to rebuy the same game on a new platform, but Sony may have seriously shot itself in the foot when it comes to cross-generation releases. A game like Yakuza: Like a Dragon is fairly big and most players are not going to want to restart their saves in the middle of the adventure.
Source: Twitter