Now that Yakuza developer Ryu ga Gotoku Studio’s final game with series creator Toshihiro Nagoshi at the helm has been released, head translator Scott Strichart is stepping away from the series.
“Something I’ve been hesitating to say but need to just put out there: Lost Judgment was my last RGG title as the (it was always unofficial) ‘head of localization.’ I’m not leaving SEGA, I’m just stepping aside for the foreseeable future,” Strichart said in a tweet update.
The news that Scott Strichart is stepping away from the series comes not long after Nagoshi left Sega and RGG Studio, which led to a big change up in leadership at both Sega proper and RGG Studio.
Despite this, Strichart said he was holding off announcing his departure from the series as it’s “totally unrelated” to the shakeups at Sega.
“I was putting it off because I’ve gotta keep it professional despite this being a hard thing to say. It was 6 years of my life, y’know? I also didn’t want drop this anywhere near when the studio restructured, being that it’s totally unrelated. It is, I swear,” he said.
In regards to why he actually stepped aside from RGG titles, it seems like Strichart is no longer needed, as he accomplished his goal as head translator.
“To answer the ‘why,’ I’ve been dropping hints: LJ was my ‘mission accomplished’ moment, and my bosses and I agreed that this was the time,” Strichart said. “There’s always still work to be done, but in terms of where Yakuza was and where it is now, the feeling is, well, it no longer needs me.”
Speaking of who will be in charge of future translation work for RGG Studio’s new releases – including Lost Judgment post-launch DLC, Strichart said there’s nothing to worry about.
“Kaito (character DLC) is being handled by Lost Judgment’s AP, Vicky, alongside the core team, and ‘RGG8’, whatever shape it takes, won’t be me at the loc helm – and the same is true of anything else that may or may not be in the works,” he said. “Though, of course, these teams always have me in their corner!”
Closing out his remarks, Strichart said that he is very thankful for both his coworkers at Sega and RGG Studio, as well as the fans who played their games.
“So I’ll close this out with my heartfelt thanks to too many to name: My coworkers past and now at SEGA, RGG studio, our talented studio & actors, and everyone who played Yakuza 0, Kiwami, Y6, Kiwami 2, Judgment, Like a Dragon, and Lost Judgment: You made it worth every moment.”
Since his departure from Sega, speculation and rumors went wild but Toshihiro Nagoshi was actually poached by Chinese publisher NetEase, and established his new Nagoshi Studio – read more about that here in our other report.
Lost Judgment has been available worldwide since September 2021 across Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5. In case you missed it, you can find our thorough review for the game here – we really highly recommend it!
