Pierre Taki arrested, JUDGEMENT sales suspended by SEGA

News from 2019.03.13
Archived on 2019.03.15

A big news shook Japan's entertainment field today:
Pierre Taki, member of techno-pop duo Denki Groove and an actor who took part in the PS4 game 'JUDGEMENT', was arrested for using cocaine.
SEGA reacted with suspension of the game's sales (both physical and digital copies) and deletion of all promotional informations following the news.

弊社製品『JUDGE EYES：死神の遺言』の販売自粛についてhttps://t.co/0C3bp2b62P

— セガ公式アカウント (@SEGA_OFFICIAL) March 13, 2019

🔵Pierre Taki, member of techno-pop duo Denki Groove and an actor who took part in the PS4 game 'JUDGEMENT', was arrested for using cocaine. Following this news, SEGA stopped selling physical and digital copies of the game and took down official homepage for the moment. What -- https://t.co/RsnssoTsj3

— ●SonicJPNews● (@SonicJPNews) March 13, 2019

-- is going to happen with the game in the future, including international version of the game, is still to be decided.

— ●SonicJPNews● (@SonicJPNews) March 13, 2019

販売自粛に伴い、『JUDGE EYES：死神の遺言』に関するツイート等は削除いたしました。何卒ご理解のほどよろしくお願いいたします。https://t.co/ET4m1CxJdz

— セガ公式アカウント (@SEGA_OFFICIAL) March 13, 2019

Because of this, SEGA Official erased all their tweets related to JUDGEMENT project. What harsh measures...https://t.co/3d6AhrtsEH

— ●SonicJPNews● (@SonicJPNews) March 13, 2019

It is a hard measure they took in responce to the news, and even Japanese fans are discussing wether this is an overreaction. Considering Japan has very strict laws agains drug abuse and a company does not want any trouble by presenting a criminal in its games and promotions, I guess this is the best SEGA can do for now to avoid even more unnecessary problems.

Additionally, the director of Judgement and CPO of SEGA Games, Toshihiro Nagoshi, has his policy to never include scenes with child death and drug abuse in the games. This may have had influence on their decision to suspend seles of the game.

Similar problem occured once in his Yakuza series already: an actor was arrested for drug abuse and had to be replaced. Same solution might be applied with this game, which means the rescission of restriction in Japan and release of international version will be delayed.

Official statement from SEGA on the topic:
https://sega-games.co.jp/release/190313_1.html

Any update will be announced.

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