Lost Judgement may be the last in the franchise

Due to complications between publisher SEGA and talent agency Johnny & Associates, Lost Judgement may not be coming to PC, and it might be the last franchise entry. 

According to the Japanese news site Nikkan Taishu’s sources, the talent agency managing lead Judgement actor Takuya Kimura, Johnny & Associates, has been blocking PC versions of the series’ games as they do not want Kimura to appear in PC games, which are usually less popular in Japan. 

While the exact reasoning is unclear as to why Johnny & Associates would be so vehemently blocking a PC release, VGC reports that it’s due to the strict rights to Kimura’s talent, with “use of their image online is still limited to a few,” which causes complications since PC’s have unfettered online access. 

With SEGA trying to bring the Judgement franchise, including the latest entry Lost Judgement to Steam, the two companies have reached an impasse, with Lost Judgement potentially becoming the last game in the series. 

In the recent State of Play, PlayStation unveiled some gameplay for Lost Judgement, which also gives another look at the locations you’ll be taken to in the game while you solve crimes and beat people senseless.

Lost Judgement is set to release on September 24th for PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox One, Series S and Series X with SEGA having “no plans” for a PC release despite their wishes and a sneaky leak that happened shortly after the games reveal. 

While this might be the last Judgement game, we can still expect a lot more from Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio as they’ve seen huge success through the Yakuza games in both their turn-based and brawler series outings.