Sega changes character in Judgment after voice actor’s alleged drug use

Sega is scheduled to release the PlayStation 4 game Judgment on June 25 in Europe and the US. Earlier, the publisher withdrew the game in Japan, because a voice actor would have used drugs. For the western release, Sega is adapting that character.

Sega has updated a previous statement about the game’s withdrawal on its website. It now states that the game is scheduled to release on June 25 in Europe and the US. In the version for the western market, the character Kyohei Hamura is modified. In a tweet, Sega . says that the character gets a different appearance and a different voice actor for the Japanese narration.

Earlier this month, Sega pulled the Japanese version of Judgment from the shelves. The game was pulled from stores after actor Pierre Taki, who voiced the character in question, was arrested in Japan on suspicion of cocaine use. Japan has very strict drug laws and companies do not want to be associated with drug use. Sega also took down tweets, images and trailers about the game in which the respective character was visible.

Initially, it was unclear whether stopping sales in Japan would affect the western release. Sega had announced a week before the incident that the game would be released in the US and Europe on June 25. It is not yet clear what Sega will do with the Japanese version of the game. Whether that version will also be released on the market after adjustments, the publisher does not yet say.

Judgment is a detective game made by Ryu ga Gotoku, the studio behind the Yakuza games. In Japan, the game has been on sale since December 13 last year under the name Judge Eyes. The game centers on a lawyer who is on the hunt for a serial killer and must fight his way through the underworld. The game is only available for the PlayStation 4.

It is not the first time that a game in Japan has been modified in response to drug use. The same happened last year with the remaster of Yakuza 4, in which the voice and haircut of one of the four main characters were changed. Square Enix also recently announced that Snowman Olaf’s voice will be changed in the Japanese version of Kingdom Hearts III. It is also voiced by Pierre Taki.