Judgment has sold through 97% of stock following controversy

Sega chief creative officer Toshihiro Nagoshi confirmed that Judgment sold through roughly 97 percent of its stock since the company halted sales of the game, and worldwide inventory is almost gone as well. 

As reported and translated by Gemastu, Nagoshi also clarified that there are currently no plans for developing sequels for Judgment, despite reports saying they have been decided. 

In addition to clearing up rumors, Nagoshi also provided his take on Pierre Taki, the Japanese voice actor and character model for character Kyohei Hamura.

Taki was pulled from the game after admitting to illegal drug use, with Sega following up by removing Judgment for sale in Japan. Rather than doing the same in the West, the company will remove Taki from the game before it releases on June 25. 

"I was surprised to hear Pierre Taki was arrested. After that we started discussing how to deal with the problem," Nagoshi said. "We decided to halt the game’s sales fairly quickly."

For those that are unfamiliar, Japan has incredibly strict laws around illegal drug use, resulting in similar punishments for celebrities and actors who have been charged with possession in the past.

"There is no correct way to deal with the situation. In the end, I also cast my vote for halting sales," Nagoshi admitted.

"Some thought and pointed out 'This is going too far' and 'It’s unrelated to the game itself,' and I don’t think those opinions are unreasonable either—I can see it from both sides."

"So when it comes to why I voted for halting sales, it’s because it was just after release. If it was an older game released a considerable amount of time ago, our priorities may have been different, but when it was something that had been released only several months prior, I think it’s a different conversation."

"I’m bummed that it sold like there was a last-minute surge in demand," Nagoshi continued. "It reached number three on Amazon’s sales rankings. But I did kind of think, 'Why didn’t you just buy from the start?'"

"Of course I’m glad in any case. Sell-through was about 97 percent. Worldwide inventory is nearly gone."