Sega judgment would not continue due to PC disagreement

Sega scored a big hit by signing Takuya Kimura, one of Japan’s biggest celebrities, to star in his Judgment Games. With Kimura, there are real star credentials and, of course, the power of talent agencies. The latter point, according to a report, could be the downfall of the fledgling franchise.

According to the weekly publication Nikkan Taishu, an insider in the Japanese entertainment world is said to have said that the next Lost judgment will be the last entry in the series. “, [Kimura’s talent agency] Johnny’s would not have been able to come to a platform agreement to sell the game.

Kotaku contacted Sega for comment, but did not receive a response until the post.

Judgment was originally released on PlayStation 4, but a remastered version has been released on PlayStation 5, Stadia, and Xbox Series X / S. Lost judgment will be released this fall on PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X / S, and Xbox One.

However, last spring when the game was announced, the Japanese website listed Windows 10 and Steam. Yakuza Fan Site Tojo Dojo points out that even after deleting the listings, the website code still showed a Steam logo, something from Twitter Wario64 also noticed.

“The game is announced for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X | S, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One,” a Sega spokesperson later said. PC player. “Sega has no plans to bring Lost Judgment at the PC right now.

According to Nikkan Taishu, Kimura’s art agency will not be approving the game’s release on PC, which may seem odd since the previous game was released on Stadia (but, to be honest, it’s not clear if the agency understood the game correctly. platform). The problem appears to be due to the authorization of an appropriate PC version and the impact that would have on the talent agency’s handling of Kimura’s likeness and general dislike of a platform based on PC.

The point of contention, as explained on Nikkan Taishuis that Sega apparently sees the PC as vital from a business point of view. For Johnny’s, who has yet to fully embrace the Internet like others in the music industry, releasing a game directly online through a PC platform could be problematic for their business model. Due to this apparent disagreement, Nikkan Taishu reports that Lost judgment would be the last in the series. (If so, I wonder if the franchise will continue with another big star attached to a friendlier talent agency.)

A Bit of History: Johnny’s is responsible for the biggest boy groups in Japan and has always been shy on the internet. As Music times explains, “Johnny & Associates had in the past refused to allow photos of his talents to be posted online at press conferences and has since blocked all of his artists from using social media. Johnny’s only opened a YouTube channel in 2018!

The control that Johnny’s has over the image of its artists is synonymous with power. By allowing Takuya Kimura, one of the agency’s most famous stars, to appear in a game released on an open platform like PC, the agency might think it is giving it up. So, that could explain why Johnny’s would be against a possible PC version.

Kimura was previously part of a boy group called Smap, which imploded after three of the band members left Johnny’s in 2017. Another former member, Masahiro Nakai, left Johnny’s last year, and Kimura is now the only ex-member of Smap still belonging to the powerful boy band agency.

The source tells Nikkan Taishu that Kimura, who is said to be quite the player, really stepped into the role of Judgment‘s Takayuki Yagami and really wants the series to continue. Because Kimura is a huge star in Japan, he operated under slightly different rules from the agency’s other talents, including, most famously, his marriage and children were no secret.

If the art agency is in fact preventing this from happening, I hope Kimura can help reach a compromise that ensures more future judgment games.