What Are Sega Working On… A Look At Their Studios
Sega had a fairly decent 2023, which ended with them announcing that a lot of their beloved titles are making a comeback with and remade entries, at least sometime in the future.
They also picked up Rovio Studio, the folks behind Angry Birds and really nothing else of note. So with that being last year, what does this year hold?
We know a few games are coming this year, but that is really it, so let’s take a look and see if we can’t work something else out.
SEGA GROUP
Division 1
Last Game Released: Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name | Series: Like A Dragon series, Super Monkey Ball series
Normally when a studio releases 2 games in one year, we would say that you won’t hear from them again for a while, but Division 1 is not your average group. While last year saw a double punch of Like a Dragon: Ishin! and then Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name release, they have Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth launching in just a few days as well.
Given that the studio has a game coming out in a few weeks, it would not surprise me to see more titles in development at this division. It has been a few years since we saw Super Monkey Ball or Virtua Fighter, not counting the laters random PS4 release.
Division 2
Last Game Released: Sonic Superstars | Series: Sonic series, Olympic Games series, Puyo Puyo series
2023 saw this Division release a brand new 2D Sonic game, the first in a number of years and while it did well, it just happened to release 3 days before a new 2D Mario game. Of course there were two Sonic games in 2023, with Sonic Origins Plus getting an update, so technically it was a re-release.
2024 could be a big year for the group, as there is a new Olympic Games taking place in Paris, and this is the arm that makes the official games and the Mario and Sonic games. Not seeing new games from them for the Olympics would be a weird decision. Of course, there could have been a licence shift in the background, though looking through all the news from the IOC across 2023, I saw nothing that could hint at that. For now though, we will have to wait and see what they are bringing to gamers this year.
Division 3
Last Game Released: Phantasy Star Online 2 | Series: Phantasy Star Online, Jet Set Radio
2023 saw this division continuously release updates for Phantasy Star Online 2, with a few launching already this year. Now you might have thought that was all they were going to do, until The Game Awards 2023 when the Super Game project was revealed to the world.
Now Sega have not confirmed who is making the new iterations of Jet Set Radio, Crazy Taxi or any of the other games, but an interview with the heads of Division 3, literally breaks down SuperGame, I will show you the original Japanese text and than a translated version.
The original:
全世界で同時に展開するAAA（トリプルエー）ランクのタイトルのことで、現在複数のタイトルが同時に開発中です。これまでは日本でヒットしたゲームを海外にカルチャライズして展開してきましたが、「SuperGame」は初期から同時に展開するからこそコミュニティなども築きやすくなります。
Translated via DeepL:
AAA (Triple-A) rated titles are developed simultaneously around the world, with multiple titles currently in development at the same time. Until now, games that have been a hit in Japan have been culturally adapted and developed overseas, but "SuperGame" will be developed simultaneously from the beginning, which will make it easier to build a community and so on.
Given that same interview states that folks have been transferring into the division to work on SuperGame, it bodes well that they are taking the reigns of at least one of the title, likely Jet Set Radio. Given the project has multiple games in development, hopefully one of them comes out this year. Reports from early 2023 via Bloomberg did state that the Crazy Taxi reboot had been in the works for sometime, so that might be first, but may not be by this group.
Division 4
Last Game Released: Hatsune Miku: Colorful Stage! | Series: Many
This is the mobile arm of Sega, at least in Japan and they develop titles for mobile that are connected to console and arcade series. The studio has published games from the Shin Megami Tensei series, First of the North Star and of course, Hatsune Miku.
Given mobile development is very quiet until its done, there is no word on what they might have up their sleeves, so its a waiting game for now.
Division 5
Last Game Released: Initial D The Arcade | Series: Many
Primarily the arcade division for Sega, the reason why we have added them into this list this year, is because of SuperGame. This division is made up of a few former Amusement Vision teams, which among many things made F-Zero AX game. Given that this is now made up of the teams that made the original Crazy Taxi, its possible they might be working on the new instalment, but only time will tell.
ATLUS
CREATIVE DEPARTMENT 1ST PRODUCTION
Last Game Released: Soul Hackers 2 | Series: Shim Megami Tensei series
It has been a big since we heard from Team Maniax, with 2022’s Soul Hackers 2 being the last game they released. 2023 did have the group oversee the creation of the Etrian Odyssey Origins Collection, but the development work was done by another studio, outside of Sega.
So will we hear from them in 2024? They did have back to back games released in 2021 and 2022, plus the work on Etrian in 2023, so if they keep that run going then sure, we should. The problem is that we don’t really know. The other teams have games coming out this year, so a bit of a break could also be in the cards.
CREATIVE DEPARTMENT 2ND PRODUCTION
Last Game Released: Persona 5 Tactica | Series: Persona series
From October 2022 to November 2023, this group, known as P-Studio, got 4 titles out the door, yes one of them was a port of an existing game to more platforms and two were HD versions of existing games, but still that is some release cadence. With Persona 5 Tactica out in November 2023, you might think the group are done, but nope there is more to come.
February 2024 will see the remake of Persona 3 release, but beyond that, there is no word on what is next. Persona 4 released in 2008 and then Person 5 was 2016, so if we hope, Persona 6 could get released in 2024, but that could be a bit of a dream.
CREATIVE DEPARTMENT 3RD PRODUCTION
Last Game Released: Catherine: Full Body | Series: Unknown
For the longest time this group was not known under any unique name, even when they created Catherine originally, they were just known as Atlus. After that release though they got the name Studio Zero and they were then tapped to assist with other games, before re-releasing Catherine on modern platforms. That happened in 2020 and since then they had been quiet as a mouse, though we knew they were working on Project Re Fantasy.
In 2023 that project got the full name Metaphor: ReFantazio, with it aiming to release sometime in the Spring months of this year. Given the the studio is working towards that, its unlikely anything new will appear this year, but stranger things have happened.
SEGA EUROPE
AMPLITUDE STUDIOS
Last Game Released: Endless Dungeon | Series: Endless series
2023 was a big year for this group, not only did they finally get the long in-development Endless Dungeon out the door, they surprised released Humankind onto consoles. The reason why I say surprise release, was that in November 2022 they announced that the console versions were encountering problems with their adaptations, so they were being delayed indefinitely.
With two games out last year, this studio will just work on supporting those and no major new releases are expected in 2024.
Creative Assembly
CREATIVE ASSEMBLY Sussex
Last Game Released: Total War: Warhammer III | Series: Total War series, Alien Isolation
It ended up being a mixed year for the main studio, they did keep things going with content for Total War: Warhammer III, but their multiplayer shooter title Hyenas was abruptly cancelled. With that cancellation, we don’t know what is next for the studio, as all workers were seemingly focused on it, outside of supporting the older games.
CREATIVE ASSEMBLY SOFIA
Last Game Released: Total War: Pharaoh | Series: Total War series
2023 saw the studio release their second game since being picked up by Sega, with Total War Pharaoh, which follows up the 2020 release of Total War Troy. Given their release cadence, anything new from them is unlikely, but expect a lot of post game support for Pharaoh across 2024.
CREATIVE ASSEMBLY North
Last Game Released: None | Series: None
This division of the company was founded in March 2023, so they have no games of their own out yet. However we know they are working on something, which has been described as ‘giving players an unforgettable experience’, so take that how you will.
As the studio is new, work last year was mostly done around prototyping and tool creation, so whatever the project is, is likely a few years away from release.
HARDLIGHT
Last Game Released: Sonic Dream Team | Series: Sonic Dash series
Best known for their Sonic mobile games, the HARDlight team released another entry in December 2023 but only for Apple Arcade. The studio also assisted with the consoles versions of Company of Heroes 3, which released in May 2023.
Given their mobile focus, its unlikely we will know what they are working on, until they are ready to reveal it, so we just have to wait.
RELIC ENTERTAINMENT
Last Game Released: Company of Heroes 3 | Series: Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War series, Company of Heroes series
2023 saw the studio finally release Company of Heroes 3, a game people have been wanting since the last game in the series released back in 2013. The studio usually takes 3 or so years to release a game, so the odds of something new in 2024 are slim.
What we will get though are new updates and content for Company of Heroes 3, for both PC and consoles, so players of that series should stay alert for news.
Rovio Entertainment
Last Game Released: Angry Birds Kingdom | Series: Angry Birds series
2023 saw the studio known for their work on Angry Birds snapped up by Sega. They also released one game in full and while they soft launched another title, Bad Piggies 2, it was cancelled towards the end of 2023.
As a mobile developer there is no word on what they are working on now, but given they now have access to the Sega IP library, it could be something big, just gotta be paitent.
SPORTS INTERACTIVE
Last Game Released: Football Manager 2024 | Series: Football Manager series
Like San Diego Studio for PlayStation, Sports Interactive does one series and one series only, Football Manager. Given the studio releases their games in November of each year, we won’t hear much from this group until August when the usual cycle for new starts to build up again. As for something new, its always possible, but given for 21 years in a row they have released the same series, its unlikely.
TWO POINT STUDIOS
Last Game Released: Two Point Campus | Series: Two Point series
The studio has two games under their belt and both are fantastic, but with Two Point Campus releasing in 2022 and getting a lot of support in 2023, its unlikely they have something new for this year. Development time between the two games was 4 years and even if they shrunk down that time by a large margin, say 12 months, next year would be the release year.
With the studio releasing another major update in December 2023 for Campus, it seems they have no signs of slowing down anytime soon, which is another reason we won’t see anything new from them this year, though they are looking for a few folks, so maybe a tease could happen.
