Lost Judgment is the sequel to 2019’s release of Judgment and is set to release later this year in September. The original game started out as a spin-off of the Yakuza series but has gone on to have a unique identity of its own. And while it might seem like Sega and developer RGG Studio would have big plans for Judgment as a franchise moving forward, a bizarre new situation has come about which might lead to Lost Judgment being the final installment in the series.
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In a new article from Japanese publication Nikkan Taishu, it has been said that disputes between Sega and an outside party over a PC version of the game might lead to Lost Judgment being the end of this spin-off franchise. Essentially, the Japanese version of Lost Judgment features Takuya Kimura, who is one of the biggest stars within the nation. While this addition of Kimura has definitely led to Judgment having more notoriety within Japan, it seems as though the actor’s talent agency has been very specific about how their star is portrayed. So much so, in fact, that this agency has pushed Sega to not release its Judgment titles on PC platforms, even though the publisher would seemingly like to do so.
As a whole, Sega has shown a greater interest in releasing titles on PC in recent years and has notably even started to bring its many Yakuza games over to the platform. However, both Judgment and Lost Judgment haven’t come to PC, seemingly because Kimura’s agency won’t allow the games to be released in this avenue. Although it’s uncertain why entity might not want this, it’s likely due to the fact that PC versions of games can be altered and modded by the community. As such, the agency wouldn’t be able to have control of Kimura’s likeness, which is something that it could fear.
Because of this whole situation, the report in question asserts that Lost Judgment could end up being the final entry in the series. Unless an agreement is met between Sega and Kimura’s agency, it sounds as though the publisher would opt to move on from this franchise as a whole. There is always the chance, however, that it could end up continuing in a new manner, perhaps with a new character (and therefore a new actor) at the center of the story.
Only time will tell what actually ends up happening with this situation, but we’ll be sure to keep you informed if Sega publicly comments on this report. Until then, you can still plan to see Lost Judgment release later this fall on September 21 for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, and Xbox One.
