Pilot Diskīefore Policenauts's release on the 3DO, a 'Pilot Disk' was released on April 21, 1995, containing a playable demo of the game, interviews with the voice actors and developers, as well as an extensive encyclopedia describing the concepts within the title's detailed backstory. Policenauts would later be released on the Japanese PlayStation Store on May 15, 2008, making it available as a downloadable title for the PlayStation Portable and PlayStation 3.

Kojima has also stated that he believes the Saturn port is the 'final version' of Policenauts, containing several changes to the game's story and presentation that make the release 'the most charming' in his eyes. The Sega Saturn would be the last console the title would be ported to on Septemwhere it added supported for the Virtua Gun peripheral. When the PlayStation version arrived on January 19, 1996, it featured further cleanup on both the graphics and movie footage created for the 3DO release. The game's script was also polished and rewritten making Poilcenaut's 3DO release the base for all future ports. Besides all the game's artwork being redrawn, CG and hand-animated cut-scenes were added to enhance important moments in the story. The first console release of Policenauts was for the 3DO in 1995 and it was extensively reworked from the original. Policenauts was first released on the NEC PC-98 Japanese microcomputer on Jand, unlike the title's later console ports, featured a presentation made up entirely of pixel art, giving the game a look very similar to Snatcher. The story takes place in the year 2040 where private investigator Jonathan Ingram uncovers the mystery behind the disappearance of his ex-wife's husband, who is a citizen that lives aboard the space colony that now orbits the Earth. Policenauts is the spiritual successor to Snatcher, both of which are sci-fi adventure games designed and written by Hideo Kojima.

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