Lost Judgment’s worldwide release ‘tripled the struggles’ of the development team

The extra complications of Lost Judgment’s worldwide launch “tripled the struggles” of the development team, its producer has claimed.

In an interview with Inverse, Kazuki Hosokawa says the fact that Lost Judgment is the first game in the Yakua series to release on the same day worldwide has drastically increased the team’s workload.

“It tripled the struggles for the entire development staff,” he explained. “Up until now, we have been focusing on the Japanese market and creating products with how we were going to promote it already in mind.

“However, for Lost Judgment, we knew from the start we wanted to strive for a simultaneous global release, so we had to think about what would be appropriate for the product and how to convey the appeal of the product in each region.”

Despite these extra considerations and the additional stress they caused, Hosokawa says the the team saw few departures and continued to bring in new staff during development.

“It’s all about being aware of the goals and motivation, and then dedication and ingenuity,” he said. “The ongoing relationship of the development team also plays a significant role.

“Having a team with such a strong mutual understanding is definitely a strength. That is probably why we continue to pursue production and quality at our current pace.”

Lost Judgment is the sequel to 2018’s Yakuza spin-off Judgment. It was officially revealed via a video presentation last month, and will be released worldwide on September 24 for PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S.

Further reading

Review: Judgment is a fun, but muted Yakuza game in disguise

Sega's spin-off doesn’t deliver on its investigative pitch, but its humour still shines

“I’m confident we’ve created a game unlike anything you’ve seen before,” recently appointed Sega creative director and Yakuza creator Toshihiro Nagoshi said during the presentation.

The “legal suspense action game” will retain the fast-paced action of the original, rather than adopting the turn-based RPG system used in 2020’s Yakuza: Like a Dragon.

In addition to Kamurocho, it will take players to the port city of Yokohama, and returning protagonist Takayuki Yagami will go undercover at a high school.