Sega has been on an absolute tear as of late, and the legendary publisher could be about to put the output of its biggest IPs into overdrive. According to insider information from ‘Midori,’ fresh content from “main pillar brands” Like a Dragon, Persona, and Sonic will become more consistent, annual releases on PS5 and Xbox. It’s easy to think that a boost in quantity will see a drop in quality, but it’s not as big a step up as it seems.
Through “new titles, remakes and remasters, DLC expansions, and other media,” Midori says that Sega’s big three – the stalwarts of some of the best games out there – will start getting new content every year. Though this might sound like a major shift in strategy, the reality is that all three franchises are already putting out new PS5 games and new Xbox games at a similar rate.
Looking at the current decade so far, Atlus’ Persona series has yielded Persona 5 Strikers (2020), Persona 5 Tactica (2023), Persona 3 Reload, and Persona 5 The Phantom X (both 2024, though the latter is currently only available in China). While Strikers was a solid spin-off, Tactica ultimately faltered. P3R, meanwhile, quickly became one of the best Xbox Game Pass games when it joined the service on day one back in February.
The slow pivot away from the Yakuza name has generally seen success for Sega. 2020’s Yakuza: Like a Dragon painted a bold picture of what the upcoming decade would look like for our Kamurucho-based adventures, while 2021’s Lost Judgment showed that even the series’ spin-off sequels were iteratively improving. In 2023, Like a Dragon: Ishin! showcased Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio’s remake chops, while Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name proved the studio could produce a condensed experience while retaining its quality. This year, Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth managed to surpass the iconic Kiryu/Majima games, at least on Metacritic, earning itself a whopping 89 critic score.
I don’t really need to mention Sonic seeing as multiple games are already launched each year – there are more spiky blue hedgehog installments than I’ve had hot dinners. What this all illustrates, though, is that we’ve already seen the flexibility and consistency of Sega’s studios. Midori states that “quality management is a main priority for the main Sega Group IPs,” and it’s something that we’ve been observing for quite some time now, even if the final product hasn’t always gone down a storm with critics and players alike. As such, I’m not worried about Sega potentially upping the cadence of new content drops even further.
However, Sega’s doubling-down on its three core franchises could potentially come at the expense of newer, more experimental ideas – something we’ve already seen a glimpse of with the last-minute axing of Hyenas last year, a promising FPS game that we loved when we played a preview build at Gamescom.
You can check out Midori’s original Tweet here.
For more recent news on the best PS5 games and best Xbox games from Sega, check out why, unlike Persona, Metaphor ReFantazio gives you zero rizz. While you’re here don’t forget to drop us a follow on Google News – there’ll be plenty of Sega beats to go around as we head towards P3R’s The Answer DLC, and the highly anticipated Sonic x Shadow Generations.