Last week, Sega halted sales of PS4 exclusive Judgment after actor Pierre Taki was arrested on alleged drug charges. Taki is being replaced in various roles, and suddenly, the original release of Judgment looks like a collector’s item.
Pierre Taki is being replaced in TV shows and as the official Japanese language voice of Olaf in Frozen 2 and Kingdom Hearts III. With the precedent Yakuza 4 set, don’t expect him to always be in Judgment.
When the game first came out, it was priced at 8,953 yen ($80).
But that was before the game was pulled. So now, when stores sell out, like this one did (above), they won’t be getting any new shipments anytime soon.
This has caused prices to increase. Above, on the left is a photo taken on March 13, the day that Sega announced it was pulling the game. At retailer Geo, used copies were going for 5,480 yen ($49). The photo on the right was taken the following day, after Geo could reset its prices. The price for a used copy had jumped to 7,480 yen ($67).
This Twitter user remarked at how expensive the game was priced at Geo!
Other shops are charging a premium on the original price. In the above tweet, it’s going for 9,241 yen ($83).
That’s actually not so bad, compared to these prices, which range from 12,980 yen ($116) to 14,567 yen ($131).
Or even 14,800 yen ($133) for a new copy.
Or 45,000 yen ($404)! Used copies that people are reselling online at more reasonable prices are getting snapped up.
This was bound to happen.