SEGA Creative Officer Toshihiro Nagoshi Discusses ‘Yakuza’ Spinoff ‘Judgement,’ Addresses Voice Actor’s Arrest & Possible Sequels

SEGA creative officer Toshihiro Nagoshi appeared in the most recent SEGA Nama broadcast. In it, he discussed the latest installment in the Yakuza series, the spinoff Judgement (or “Judge Eyes” as it’s known in his home country).

One of the topics addressed was the arrest of voice actor Pierre Taki, which forced SEGA to stall selling the game. According to Gematsu‘s translation, Nagoshi was “surprised” upon hearing of Taki’s arrest, and it was an event that caused many people to call him up asking what to do about it. They decided to halt sales of the game “fairly quickly,” a decision he voted for. Nagoshi does admit that there’s “no correct way” to handle this kind of situation, however.

Nevertheless, Nagoshi is happy to report that Judgement is performing well; 97 percent of domestic stock was depleted, and the worldwide innovatory is likewise “nearly gone.” However, the SEGA executive was slightly “bummed that it sold like there was a last-minute surge in demand,” noting it reached the number three spot on Amazon’s rankings.

However, while there are some loose ideas for a Judgement sequel (the Hamura character wouldn’t return, apparently), any reports claiming work on one has begun are incorrect. “They’re talking nonsense; absolutely none of that is true.”