A demo for Lost Judgment was seemingly leaked on the PlayStation store database, suggesting fans may get an early look at the game ahead of its upcoming release. It's possible history is repeating itself once again, given Lost Judgment was originally listed on PSN prior to its official reveal.
Lost Judgment, the follow-up to Judgment that releases this coming month, will bring players another mystery to solve in the world of the Yakuza franchise. The sequel looks to be a rather large undertaking for Sega, seeing as it will be the first game in the Yakuza series that will simultaneously launch worldwide and even feature a full English dub - an uncommon feature for such games. It appears Sega could branch out to new audiences with these efforts, and a demo could significantly help.
Twitter account psnrelease2 (via GamesRadar) came across what appeared to be a Lost Judgment demo, translated to "Lost Judgment: Unjudged Memory Trial Version." It was listed on the Japanese version of PSN, suggesting something could arrive soon. No further details regarding the demo have been unveiled, but it might let players get their hands on the new detective mechanics in Lost Judgment before its official release. That being said, it is possible this demo will be an exclusive to that particular region. As of right now, no official announcement has been made - but it seems likely more information will be revealed somewhat soon, given Lost Judgment's fast-approaching release date.
The potential demo leak is not the only issue the game has dealt with in the months ahead of its release. There is some speculation that Lost Judgment could actually be the last game in the series, after news arose of a dispute between the agency that represents actor Takuya Kimura - the voice and physical model for protagonist Takayuki Yagami. For unconfirmed reasons, Kimura's agency didn't want him to appear in PC games and hoped to block Lost Judgment from being released on Steam.
According to the game's producer, though, Lost Judgment will be a comparatively better and more refined detective game than its series counterpart. Yagami will apparently have new tools and investigation mechanics that the Lost Judgment team hopes will bring balance to the game's action and detective work. But whether a demo will tackle some of these new areas remains to be seen.
Lost Judgment will be available September 24, 2021 for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S and Xbox One.
Sources: psnrelease2, GamesRadar