Sega has been on a roll as of lately. First, they finally released Bayonetta on the PC. Shortly afterward, they followed it up with Vanquish, yet another title that never made its way to the PC. That is until now. And now, they’ve announced that they’re reportedly planning a “revival of major IPs”. This bit of information comes directly from Sega’s own “Road to 2020” business report.
You can check it out here, but basically, they’re looking to do several things.
- Revival of past IPs and active utilization of external IPs, etc
- Maximize value of IPs by expanding development channels
- Challenge for new IPs
- Promote multi-device/global development by organizing studios
- Improve efficiency by integrating publishing
- Create titles that will become global hits
- Establish digital marketing business
- Expand overseas publishing business
- Maintain profits through long-term operation of existing titles
- Develop next-generation titles
- Expand existing IPs and obtain new IPs for North American/European PC games
- Build revenue base by being entrusted with outsourced development
- Effective utilization of development engines
Be still my heart, is this the return fo Sega of old? Could we finally see Sega get out in front just like the days of the Sega Genesis? Well, it very could be, if they’re planning to do exactly what they’ve outlined. But let’s think about that for a moment. The revival of past IPs, that’s massive. Even if they didn’t develop new IPs, Sega has a massive catalog of games they haven’t used in years, if not decades.
Just off the top of my head, I can think of just a few;
- Golden Axe
- Streets of Rage
- Space Harrier
- Outrun (though they don’t have the Ferrari license anymore)
- Altered Beast
- Burning Rangers
- Virtual On
- NiGHTS
- Burning Ranger
- Comix Zone
- Skies of Arcadia
- Vectorman
- Jet Grind Radio/Jet Set Radio
- Panzer Dragoon
- Phantasy Star
- Virtual Fighter
Yeah, just a few. What’s that? I didn’t include Daytona USA or Shenmue? Those games are already being used with Shenmue 3 coming to the PlayStation and Daytona 3 already making its way to the arcade.Â
Please Sega, if you’re really serious about doing this, please don’t forget these franchises. Your fans demand it!