Segaannounced todaythat shipments and digital sales forJudgmentin Japan have come to a halt. This decision follows the arrest of actor Pierre Taki, reported by multiple Japanese news sites. Sega stated that they will publish more information regardingJudgment’s commercialization in Japan at a later date.
Despite Sega’s announcement, it seems the game is still available on theJapanese PlayStation storeas I’m writing this.
Update: the game was now removed from the Japanese PlayStation Store. Its page is still accessible but you cannot put it in your cart to buy it.
InJudgment, all main characters are voiced and have been modeled after real-life actors. In the game, Pierre Taki plays Kyohei Hamura, a yakuza leader and one of the pivotal characters inJudgement’s story.
According to multiple Japanese news sites such asMainichi Shinbun, actor Pierre Taki was arrested today, March 13, in Tokyo, under the suspicion of cocaine use and has admitted to the charges.
Use of cocaine is a serious crime in Japan, and in cases like these, companies tend to cut all ties with the charged actor and erase them completely from their products. As such, I think the most likely scenario is that Sega is currently preparing a patch to replace Pierre Taki’s voice and model inJudgmentwith another actor. After that, I think old unshipped copies of the game will be destroyed, and a new physical copy of the game which includes that patch from the start will be sold.
Pierre Taki’s character is also among the main characters featured onJudgment’s Japanese cover. If my guess is right, the new physical version of the game will remove him from the cover as well.
Many seem to share my guess that Pierre Taki will be removed from the game. Seeing that the first Japanese version ofJudgmentwill soon become unavailable now that shipments have stopped, scalpers and the like are already at work. Since the news of Pierre Taki’s arrest has broken out, prices and sales ofJudgment, known asJudge Eyes Shinigami no Yuigonin Japan, have already skyrocketed on online shops. Today,Judgmenttook the top spot in video games sales on Amazon Japan, above pre-orders of highly anticipated gamesSekiro: Shadows Die TwiceandThe Division 2.
As a possible consequence, all videos ofJudgmenton Sega’sJapanese official YouTube channelhave been made private.
Judgmentreleased on June 04, 2025, in Japan for PS4. The game is scheduled to release on July 16, 2025, in the west, still on PlayStation 4. It’s currently unclear how the western version of the game will be affected by this turn of events.
