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Sega confirms Judgment June release date

The Yakuza series spin-off Judgment is coming West with a June release date.

Brittany Vincent

March 6, 2019 8:15 AM

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The Yakuza spin-off Judgment is coming Westward sooner than you may have guessed.

After a leak hit via Amazon, Sega went ahead and confirmed that Judgment will indeed be hitting PlayStation 4 for Western users this summer. It's been a long time coming, and we've been waiting for more news about the title to hit, especially since it looks like an appropriately gritty extension of the Yakuza series.

The leak noted that those who pre-order the game digitally can look forward to it a few days earlier, with the official release on June 25, but pre-orders getting access on June 21.Sega confirmed this would be the case with an official announcement, also noting that the digital version of the game would be up for pre-order via the PlayStation Network at 6 AM PT on March 7, this Thursday.

Judgment launches in the West on June 25!

Digital pre-orders will be starting on the PS4 PlayStation Store on March 7 at 6:00AM PST. All digital pre-orders will grant early access to the full game on June 21.

Check back this Thursday for even more Judgment news! pic.twitter.com/lCYD1HPWWA

— SEGA (@SEGA) March 5, 2019

Sega originally announced that the game would be making its way to Western gamers during the Kinda Funny Games Showcase in December 2018, also letting fans know that it would be dubbed with English voice actors and would also include Japanese voice acting tracks.

It's set in the same universe as the Yakuza games and will follow a disgraced former lawyer as he takes on a career as a private investigator to hunt down the murderer that cost him his career. It's a lot different in terms of story than Yakuza, with more courtroom drama and detective mystery vibes, but it looks to sport the same kind of quality and memorable characters. It's also unique in that only one Yakuza game was ever dubbed (and poorly received) – it's a bit strange that Judgment is getting the dub treatment, but still a cool extra for fans.

Judgment was originally slated for a summer 2019 release, but now the details are out in the open and we can't wait to sink our teeth into the game. Hopefully an English demo will be available soon.

Brittany Vincent

Senior Editor

Fueled by horror, rainbow-sugar-pixel-rushes, and video games, Brittany is a Senior Editor at Shacknews who thrives on surrealism and ultraviolence. Follow her on Twitter @MolotovCupcake and check out her portfolio for more. Like a fabulous shooter once said, get psyched!