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In their FY2024/3 Full-year Results Presentation, video game publisher Sega highlighted their current focuses for the rest of 2024 and beyond.
Within this report, Sega consistently brings up three titles when talking about this year’s sales, Metacritic scores, and the company’s future plans: Persona, Sonic, and Like a Dragon. It is clear from the report that Sega considers these franchises to be the main pillars of their company.
After the release of the report, famed Sega leaker Midori took to Twitter to highlight what Sega meant by these three franchises being their main pillars. According to Midori, the publisher’s current plan for the Like a Dragon, Persona, and Sonic franchises is to release one new installment per year.
It should of course be stated that by one installment Midori didn’t mean one mainline game for each franchise. As she specifically stated that spinoff titles like Persona 5 Tactica, remasters of older games, and DLC expansions like Lost Judgment’s Kaito Files count as new installments.
While this will mean that Sonic games will be releasing faster than they have before Like a Dragon and Persona fans will largely be unaffected by this change. As Like a Dragon has been a franchise of yearly releases since the PlayStation 3 era, only going 2013 and 2019 without new releases. This has been achieved via Ryu Ga Gotoku Studios reusing assets each entry while focusing on making new content.
Persona meanwhile has a long history of breaks between mainline games, but a consistent release schedule of spinoff titles developed by different studios. Keeping the franchise alive in the eye of the public and investors while the main P-Studio works on titles like Persona 3 Reload and the inevitable Persona 6.
So while this new change in focus for Sega may come as a surprise for some, it is unlikely to affect those two franchises in the same way it will affect Sonic. The Sonic IP has been taking more breaks in recent years, with there being a nearly 5 year-long gap between Sonic Forces and Sonic Frontiers.
Only the future knows what is in store for Sega and their current game plans. Gamers can only sit back and hope that the company continues to deliver upon the quality releases they’re known for.
