SEGA has updated their “Customer Harassment Policy” which some fans are construing as a response to recent criticism against the localization of Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth.

The recently released title has left some fans confused, whether that’s comically miscast voice lines, or just strange dialogue. On top of it all, Sega and Bandai Namco participated in a recent article with The Japan Times explaining the role of localization in selling their games. In the article, representatives from both companies appeared to proudly admit to making changes to their games for western audiences.

Sega at least, seemed proud of their role in the article. The official company X (formerly Twitter) account shared the article. The fan response has been swift, with comments under the Twitter post calling out SEGA’s localization of the game and the approach towards localization promoted in the article.

Just today, SEGA announced they were updating their Customer Harassment Policy, and even if this has been in the works for a while, the timing makes it seem as if it’s in response to fan criticism.

セガは、すべての従業員を尊重し人権を守るため、カスタマーハラスメントポリシーを掲げています。

このたび、当社従業員および関係者が安心して業務を遂行できるよう、ガイドラインを更新いたしましたので、お知らせいたします。https://t.co/nho57jvpyP pic.twitter.com/4NkxI9yciV

— セガ公式アカウント🦔 (@SEGA_OFFICIAL) January 31, 2024

We don’t have a copy of the old policy, but a statement at the start of their new policy (which you can read in full here) lends credibility to this assumption:

However, following some recent harassment-related incidents towards our employees (“Customer Harassment”), we would like to take the following measures to ensure that our company employees and representatives (“Our Employees”) can carry out their duties with peace of mind.

UPDATE: A fan sent us an archive of the earlier Customer Harassment Policy and the new additions appear to be as follows:

・Acts that cause severe emotional distress to or impose a burden on one of Our Employees by repeatedly using words or behaviors that suggest self-harm of any kind
・Words or actions that encourage or suggest self-harm of any kind by Our Employees or a third party
・Any other act that which, from the viewpoint of protecting Our Employees from harm or distress, causes severe emotional distress, fear, or any other act that we consider to cause an unacceptable level of harm