Driven by these successes, accompanied by that of Sonic in the cinema and the very positive aspect of the last financial statements, the publisher thinks big, very big even. While the issue of NFTs, play-to-earn games and blockchain-related technologies are still being studied, the publisher does not intend to slow down its development, quite the contrary.
In an interview with Japanese media Toyo Keizai Online, the co-director of SEGA operations, Shuji Utsumi, spoke about this growth. The latter has indeed been asked about SEGA’s cross-media strategy, with the implication that everything will not necessarily go through the video game, even though the latter remains the central point of the company.
As an example, the person asking the question evoked the case of Sonic, whose film relaunched the franchise, and on which SEGA intends to capitalize with a second feature film and an open world game, Sonic Frontiers. In response, Shuji Utsumi explained that Sonic was the backbone of SEGA’s licensing “renaissance” in various forms, and that the current context, associated with the licenses available, used to take Marvel as an example :
Marvel, for example, is perpetually renewing Spider-Man while retaining the Spider-Man name. And other non-Spider-Man products have the Marvel twist as well. SEGA can be a Marvel of the video game industry. The video game ecosystem is currently changing. Various technology companies like Microsoft, Google, Amazon and Netflix are interested in games. Among the latter, the demand for licenses is very strong. And on the side of channels or services that target the family audience, Sonic could be a very effective license.
From ambitious statements, which are likely to mark the spirits. It is rare that the managers of Japanese publishers do not weigh their words, which translates a real confidence. There are a lot of games in production right now, but that’s not all. The next Sonic movie is coming in April, yes, but a series will arrive soon on Netflix, while a film project Yakuza is in the boxes for a long time, as well as an anime Shenmue. However, only time will tell if SEGA succeeds in becoming a “video game Marvel”. To be continued.
