The sale of the spin-off Yakuza game series, Judgment, will be halted in Japan after the arrest of one of the voice actors in the game. A statement from Sega announced the information.
In a report from Mainichi News, actor and musician, Pierre Taki, whose real name is Masanori Taki, was arrested after police say he did not pass a drug test and found that he tested positive for cocaine. Nippon.com reports officers searched his car and home in Tokyo but did not find any drugs.
Police are going through his phone to see if they can discover any more information linking him to the drugs in his system.
Taki voices Kyohei Hamura in the game Judgment, a spin-off title to the popular Yakuza series.
Judgment, previously codenamed Project Judge, released in Japan for the PlayStation 4 last December and is releasing worldwide on June 25th, 2019. Though sales may be stopped in Japan, there is no word on how or if Taki’s arrest will impact sales when Judgment hits western shelves in a few months.
A translation of a statement regarding the halted sales found on Sega Games’ website reads,
“We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause to our customer and related parties. We will inform you about future correspondence as soon as it is decided upon consideration.”
Taki also voices Olaf in the Japanese version of Kingdom Hearts III and Frozen (the movie). He is also the voice of Souda in Attack on Titan.
Kotaku is reporting via Asahi News, that Disney is looking for a replacement for Taki as Olaf in the Japanese release of Frozen 2, which is set to come to theaters in Japan this November. Before his career as an actor, Taki helped co-found and performed as a musician in the synthpop group Denki Groove.
What are your thoughts on this news? Do you still plan to buy Judgment when it releases in the west later this year? Let us know in the comments below.
