Yakuza Spin-off Series Lost Judgement About to End? PC Release Blocked
The future of the new series from the creators of Yakuza may prove to be extremely short. It's all because of... an acting agency, said to block Lost Judgment's release on Steam.
- Lost Judgment may not only be the second, but also the last installment of Yakuza's spin-off series;
- The future of the series was jeopardized by the issue of the game's release on PC, opposed by Johnny's talent agency representing Takuya Kimura (the actor who lent his image to the main character of Judgment);
- SEGA and Johnny's failed to reach an agreement and Yakuza's publisher is seriously considering ending the series.
Yakuza fans are still waiting for the sequel of the spin-off series to launch. However, it looks like Lost Judgment may turn out to be the last installment in this spin-off series because of... Steam and the PC platform in general. Sort of.
According to the weekly newspaper Nikkan Taishu, based on info from a Japanese insider, the issue breaks down over Takuya Kimura's involvement. In the West and Japan, the involvement of the well-known actor and media icon was an important part of the marketing campaign for the original Judgment. However, as is often the case with celebrities, this also brought with it the need to negotiate with talent agency Johnny's Associates, which represents Kimura's interests. Meanwhile, the agency clearly has no love for the PC and the uncontrolled Internet, which is said to conflict with the plans of Yakuza's publisher SEGA.
Officially, Lost Judgment is strictly a console title, but after the announcement of the game, the logo of Steam was spotted on the website. It quickly disappeared, but information about it is still present in the website's code. According to Nikkan Taishu, Kimura's agents are hostile to PCs and the direct release of his image online, in part due to concerns about the difficulty of managing and securing the star's image (as we read, for the same reason Johnny's agency is severely limiting its operations when it comes to online activity; it only launched its own YouTube channel in 2019). SEGA, meanwhile, sees PCs as an important part of the market and has been pushing for the release of Lost Judgment on Steam.
Unfortunately, Johnny's and SEGA were unable to work out a compromise on the matter, despite Takuya Kimura's own desire to continue the series. Because of this, Lost Judgment may be the last installment of the series. It is possible that the series will be continued with a different actor, but also with a completely different protagonist and story. Time will tell.
