SEGA Aims to Elevate Its Core Studios, But Don’t Expect New Releases Anytime Soon

SEGA has officially published its most recent financial report for Q3 of what essentially constitutes the current fiscal year. The follow-up Q&A featuring vice president Makoto Takahashi and director Nobuaki Yoshii provides a brief glimpse into the company’s future aspirations (thanks, VGC).

Following what has been a fairly eventful year for SEGA, with titles such as Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble, Sonic X Shadow Generations, Yakuza Kiwami, Metaphor: ReFantazio, and most recently, Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii, investors were eager to learn what lies ahead next. However, the responses from the studio leaders suggested that the coming fiscal year may not be as overflowing with new titles.

“The plan is currently being developed,” the translated SEGA statement indicates, “but we anticipate that the number of new titles in Full Game will be lower than this fiscal year.” To clarify, “Full Game” generally encompasses any paid title that isn’t DLC, so expansions and free-to-play titles remain on the table. The company continued to reassure its investors that revenue will still flow, with “consistent revenue contributions from repeat sales of new Full Game titles this fiscal year and comprehensive revenue contributions from new titles in F2P.”

The official translation is a bit shaky here, but generally, repeat sales from this year’s launches and free-to-play revenue are expected to keep things running smoothly over the next year *exhales in relief*.

Let’s not dwell too much on this. Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds and SHINOBI: Art of Vengeance are already scheduled for a 2025 release, and we are still anticipating more updates regarding the revivals of titles like Streets of Rage, Jet Set Radio, Crazy Taxi, Virtua Fighter, and Golden Axe. Thus, the upcoming fiscal year probably won’t be devoid of SEGA content. It may simply be a bit quieter than 2024/25… perhaps.

In response to another inquiry, the company suggested it is aware of where its major franchises will lie for future releases. When asked about which studios SEGA intends to focus its support on moving forward, the company leaders indicated they have “not established any order of priority”; however, they highlighted Sonic, ATLUS, and the Like a Dragon studios as areas they wish to “enhance”:

We have not set any specific order of precedence. For example, ATLUS is an extremely important studio for us in developing Japanese IPs for other markets, and we believe it is essential to strengthen it. Additionally, the teams involved with the Sonic and Like a Dragon IPs are also in need of support, and we’re looking to increase personnel through further hiring and M&A.