Cognition Dissemination: Sega’s Big Plans for the Future

It feels like many of Sega’s dedicated fans have been waiting forever for them to reclaim their former glory in terms of their software output, particularly following the fall of the Dreamcast way back in 2001. Those who haven’t given up on them, of course.

Even after that unfortunate turning point, their software lineup was better than it is now, as they still released games on a frequent basis. This continued for the remainder of the console generation before last and into the last generation, until a time where nearly every Japanese developer felt the hurt of HD console development in some way. Sega experimented with making several new IPs early in the last console gen, which gave us titles like Valkyria Chronicles, Resonance of Fate, and Binary Domain. But they made some harsh cuts after too many games sold below expectations, though some faltered thanks to unfortunate advertising efforts and bad release dates.

For the last half-decade, they’ve significantly scaled back their software output on consoles and handhelds, and have relied on their biggest hit franchises. (Though even they aren’t the most reliable now, particularly in the case of the Alien video game adaptations.) But they’ve occasionally dipped back into the niche gaming pile with the 7th Dragon series and more Valkyria installments, though their quality has been inconsistent. There’s also the Yakuza series, which had an inconsistent relationship with the west regarding localizations until recently. Most of their support has gone to mobile platforms, where many projects have been profitable in Japan and Asian territories, but many of their older fans still want them to make “traditional” games like they used to.

There might be good news on that front. Sega recently posted a “Road to 2020” business presentation where they promised a “revival of major IPs.” Going forward, they want to make more titles that are major hits with the worldwide market using old, current, and new properties on consoles, PC, and mobile platforms. They also want them to be global simultaneous releases. It’s a grandiose plan for the re-expansion of their software line, now that the company is in a better place financially, and it could work out if they’ve planned this well.

To even naïve these plans will pan out is a bit myopic, though; there’s a good reason for my skepticism in the last paragraph. This isn’t the first time Sega has outlined a grandiose plan that didn’t come together. Remember their plan to remaster several Dreamcast games for the last console generation? That unfortunately only happened to a handful of titles, despite some of the system’s most popular games (like Skies of Arcadia) never receiving the treatment. Sega’s had some bad years in the last half-decade, but we’ve also received signs showing how the company isn’t in dire straits. This fact was most evident when they purchased Atlus after their previous parent company, Index Corporation, filed for bankruptcy.

In fact, it was around that time (precisely November 2013) where another plan was outlined, when Sega’s Naoya Tsurumi mentioned that Atlus was free to use their current and archived IPs. Drew and I subsequently wondered what happened to this plan in an update post in July 2015, and we still haven’t seen movement on that front. But it’s clear Atlus has remained busy with their own projects, and their biggest team is presently embarking on the development of a new IP of their own, while the rest of the company is hiring for other internal projects. However, it’s also become clear that Sega still has enough internal resources to revive IPs without Atlus, and they could be doing that now.

We’ve seen signs that Sega plans to listen to their fanbase more lately. For years, requests and petitions have existed to get PlatinumGames’ Sega-published titles available on PC, especially Bayonetta and Vanquish. They honored them when Bayonetta was ported to PC last month, after capitalizing on a slightly cruel April Fools’ joke, and Vanquish will arrive on May 25th, this upcoming Thursday. These shouldn’t be taken as hints that sequels to these titles are coming, due to the complicated development and publishing conditions surrounding their former development teams. (Bayonetta 2 was published and mostly funded for Wii U by Nintendo, and ostensibly can’t be ported to other platforms outside Switch, while most of the Vanquish team no longer works for Platinum.) But it’s an encouraging sign showing how they hear the requests being sent their way.

Even with those signs, it’s still difficult to believe that Sega will actually pursue these plans; if they really want to convince their extremely skeptical audience of this, they’ll have to prove it in the coming months and years. There’s no telling exactly how long they’ve had these plans in the making, so don’t expect to see a solid indication of them at upcoming events and conventions like E3 and Tokyo Game Show. But no one will complain if they do have something special to show.

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