For the longest time, we’ve wondered why Sega’s Yakuza spin-off title, Judgment, wasn’t available on PC. Originally we thought it was due to Sega simply not wanting to put the game on the PC. Then we noticed that a Stadia version was being released, so we hit up Sega to see if a PC version was coming — it was not. Then the same thing happened to the follow-up, Lost Judgment. So why isn’t the Judgment series heading to the PC? Well, it looks like this due to a disagreement of sorts.
According to a thread on Reddit, an article from the Japanese news site Nikkan Taishu has conducted an interview that shed some light as to what is happening. This interview mentioned that Sega originally did want to push Judgment and the upcoming Lost Judgment for the PC, but the talent that provided the talent for Takayuki Yagami (Takuya Kimura), the protagonist of the game, was against it. The name of that talent agency is called “Johnny & Associates” or “Johnny’s,” and they have a strict likeness policy of allowing the likeness of their actors to make appearances on the internet. They are extremely protective of their talent, to the point where most companies who work with them end up doing what the talent agency demands.
As to why this is a big deal, let’s elaborate. The PC is known for its modding scene, and I’m sure Johnny’s is aware of it. They don’t want their talent’s likeness is be altered in any way. Thus the PC version is a highly debated issue, and one that the talent agency likely isn’t going to bundle on, nor is Sega.
As you can imagine, this is a dilemma for Sega as the company has been on a porting spree when it comes to the PC. Sega has seen that the PC is a huge market, and judging from the sales; Sega is in love with the PC. So what happens when one of its biggest games is being barred from the platform, and not by choice? That’s actually a good question and now I’m starting to wonder what Sega is thinking about regarding all of this. Sure, there’s an easy way out; kill off the protagonist and stop working with Johnny & Associate. Or they could simply stop the Judgment series altogether, which I’m sure fans of the series would hate to see. Sadly, it looks like the latter may be happening as neither Sega nor Johnny & Associates have reached an agreement regarding this. Though I do like that Sega is standing its ground and wants to see Judgment make its way to the PC — as it should.
We have reached out to Sega for a comment and will update this article we receive a response.
Lost Judgement will be released for the PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S on September 24th, 2021. As for the possible PC version, unless an agreement is made, don’t count on it.
