Last week, we discovered that the actor who initially played Kyohei Hamura in the upcoming Yakuza spin-off, Pierre Taki, was arrested for drug charges. Following those charges and Japan’s strict no drug policy, Sega has confirmed that Taki’s voice and character model will be replaced in Judgement.
After halting the sales of Judgement in Japan following Taki’s arrest, many fans feared that this would alter the release date for western audiences. However, a press release from Sega officially confirms that the release date will not change and is sticking with June 25, 2019.
Screenshots and trailers featuring Hamura have been temporarily removed from all of SEGA’s official channels. Updated versions of these materials will be made available at a later date.
— RGG Studio (@RGGStudio) March 22, 2019
Taki’s likeness is no longer affiliated with the game as Sega has removed all of his character models and voice over work from all trailers, images and any other published assets.
Judgement released in Japan back in December 2018, but has since been removed from store shelves and online market places. There’s been no official confirmation as to when Japan plans to bring back the updated version of the game.
Judgement is still planned to hit the western market on the PlayStation 4 on June 25, 2019.
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