Sega Plans 2015 - Service Games Games

[Tani Coyote]

Welp, tis the end of April so we should get our Sonic the Hedgedog hog game announcement anytime soon.

 

Should.

2009: May 28

2010: May 26

2013: May 19

Beliieeeeeve.

I don't know where all the doom and gloom of no Sonic game came from when we're not even into May yet.

Or optimism for holding a game back to allow more dev time. I'm a meanie and tend to just say "they won't" as soon as I see a person segueing into that topic. I don't even let them finish.

[Milo]

2009: May 28

2010: May 26

2013: May 19

Beliieeeeeve.

I don't know where all the doom and gloom of no Sonic game came from when we're not even into May yet.

Or optimism for holding a game back to allow more dev time. I'm a meanie and tend to just say "they won't" as soon as I see a person segueing into that topic. I don't even let them finish.

 

I think it's worth noting all of those games with the May announcement are from the Storybook / B Team of Sonic Team. If a new Sonic game is announced, it will likely be from them (it's been almost two years since Lost World, so they'll likely be finishing up a new game by then). Unleashed / A Team of Sonic Team had Unleashed and Generations announced in April in contrast.

[Tani Coyote]

I think it's worth noting all of those games with the May announcement are from the Storybook / B Team of Sonic Team. If a new Sonic game is announced, it will likely be from them (it's been almost two years since Lost World, so they'll likely be finishing up a new game by then). Unleashed / A Team of Sonic Team had Unleashed and Generations announced in April in contrast.

Actually the 2009 announcement on that list is for for All Stars Racing. Black Knight's announcement was in July of 2008.

However, that is a good trend I hadn't taken note of. Ever since the end of the Storybooks, A does April and B does May.

If nothing else it reassures me that means the really big Sonic Team game is being saved for next year.

Now to see what sort of appetizer Sonic Team's going to serve up this year...

[Milo]

Actually the 2009 announcement on that list is for for All Stars Racing. Black Knight's announcement was in July of 2008.

However, that is a good trend I hadn't taken note of. Ever since the end of the Storybooks, A does April and B does May.

If nothing else it reassures me that means the really big Sonic Team game is being saved for next year.

Now to see what sort of appetizer Sonic Team's going to serve up this year...

[TCB]

Only 'appetizer' I believe we got this year was Runners, with a global release later this year or something.

[Tani Coyote]

Only 'appetizer' I believe we got this year was Runners, with a global release later this year or something.

[TCB]

This 'A' team is working on a Sonic title, so obviously that's not coming out this year, when the 25th anniversary is right around the frickin corner.

This 'B' team or whatever may be working on something too, and their last console title was two years ago. Lost World right? So between that, Boom and next year just makes me believe a home console title is happening this year within that timeframe. And I'm fine with that. Runners and 3D Sonic 2 fill the 'yearly Sonic quota' this year and have 2016 be the year.

Honestly SEGA just focus on trying to pick themselves off from the floor they did a crappy job of cleaning up this year. Regroup their resources, whatever. If anything I look more forward to SEGA's TGS offerings more than E3 now.

[Indigo Rush]

Maybe both Sonic Team A and B are working together on this next major Sonic game.

 

Or maybe both teams are working on nothing at all.

 

Or maybe we're getting another Sonic Boom game.

 

Anything, anything, could happen at this point.

[Tani Coyote]

As far as I know Japan wasn't hit by the mass layoffs so I doubt they're not working on anything.

SEGA's other IPs are dead in the water, so a Sonic game is guaranteed, especially since the restructure called for reinforcing the Sonic brand.

One could argue reinforce would mean fewer releases... but that would mean no revenue from games every year between releases.

That in mind, I'm inclined to think the following is happening:

The Unleashed team is working on a 2016 game, but also did Runners. Since they would have had 5 years, it wouldn't be hard for them to break off smaller pieces to work on Runners.

The Colors team is working on a 2015 game, with some assistance from a portion of the Unleashed team. This makes up for the short two-year dev schedule.

This 'A' team is working on a Sonic title, so obviously that's not coming out this year, when the 25th anniversary is right around the frickin corner.

[Gabz Girl]

We can only hold our breath for the coming weeks I suppose. If May goes by without even a single mention of a new Sonic game, then there definitely won't be one this year. Let's wait and see. D:

[Dejimon11]

Will not having a Sonic game this year really be a bad thing? I can wait a while without having another sonic game announced

[PickleBrows]

Will not having a Sonic game this year really be a bad thing? I can wait a while without having another sonic game announced

[Clewis]

I'd honestly be surprised if Sega didn't release a Sonic game this year.

 

Runners is decent and all, but considering Sega has such a small number of major releases lined up as it is I'd say it's barely enough.

[Tani Coyote]

The pessimism mostly stems from the lack of an E3 presence.

That doesn't preclude their sharing space with the Big 3, however, so there's still room for announcements. It might just be they had so little to show they figured it'd be a waste to book a booth or even a room.

[Blue Blood]

The fact that SEGA seemingly has no E3 presence this year just really throws a spanner in the works. Currently they have Total War: Warhammer and the "theoretical new Sonic game" in the works, along with maybe another unannounced project for this year? Last year they had Boom, Alien Isolation and Project Diva. I've never been sure about whether or not to expect a Sonic game, but the way things are going it's becoming more and more far-fetched.

[AtomicBlast]

I honestly think we will see some kind of Sonic game this year, but honestly, just an Olympic games title is likely. Next year no doubt were getting a main series game.

[Tani Coyote]

Last year they had Boom, Alien Isolation and Project Diva.

On the other hand, of course they had a booth for that, because they turned into the Xbox One conference and were busy boasting about this huge multimedia initiative. Statues. Props. TV show previews. Merchandise. They absolutely needed a booth for last year because Boom had a gigantic amount of physical space required for its promotion.

Now that that's over, they could get by just renting a few spots with larger companies.

[TCB]

As I thought, SEGA won't have an E3 booth this year, but rather showcase their 2015 titles with other partners.

[Blue Blood]

While this doesn't categorically mean there'll be no new Sonic game this year, given that they're a Japanese product, ask yourself if it's really seems likely that SEGA would back out of E3 and the chance to get to showcase their biggest IP first hand. They'll have a few reps there at E3, but it's not really a likely thing now. Cause considering SEGA's restructure does hit the entire company and that we've had Sonic games 2 years in a row (doesn't matter that Boom was part of that), it's pretty plausible that Sonic will be held off until next year.

“Over the next months, SEGA of America will be focusing on the restructure and relocation to Southern California, and we have decided to not attend E3 with our own booth this year,” a representative told us via email. “With the majority of our bigger titles launching later in 2015/2016, particularly those from our AAA studios Relic Entertainment, Sports Interactive and Creative Assembly, we are concentrating our efforts for some of these major announcements after our relocation. Instead, we will be collaborating with our various business partners for this year’s E3 show.”

[Badnik Mechanic]

Stuff Sega is bringing out this year (2015/16) in the west.

 

Yakuza 5 -- Digital only.

 

Random fighting game with Sonic stages in it -- Digital only.

 

That Elephant game we know nothing about.

 

Total Warhammer

 

Stuff Sega might be bringing out this year

 

Football Manager 2016

 

Random Miku game.

 

A Sonic Boom app.

 

Whatever Hardlight is making.

 

That's pathetic, no wonder there is no booth. Just give the titles to the main development team/platform who will have their booth and have them that way, yes it'll look bland but nobody is going to get excited over that lineup.

[Tani Coyote]

"“With the majority of our bigger titles launching later in 2015/2016, particularly those from our AAA studios Relic Entertainment, Sports Interactive and Creative Assembly, we are concentrating our efforts for some of these major announcements after our relocation."

With the words "majority" and "bigger titles" mentioned, and Sonic not quantified, I can only assume Sonic is one of the titles they plan on announcing much sooner.

Maybe they're taking a year off, but I sincerely doubt it. Maybe they'll just announce Runners for the wider market... maybe a new console title... maybe nothing at all.

We'll know in the next few weeks.

[Badnik Mechanic]

We're not getting a Sonic game... at least not from Sega. 

 

The licensing team have been talking since February 2015 about how Boom is the main focus for Europe in Q4 this year, combine that with no booth, Sega are not doing anything.

 

Christ we're still waiting for Sega to post details about this partnership with Sanrio and Hello Kitty, they announce that back in October of last year and still nothing.

[Tani Coyote]

Very well then.

Sonic Boom II, as you truly imagined it from another indie company no one has ever heard about and has not worked on anything before the game.

[TCB]

I just found this interesting personally:

 

A majority of titles releases after E3 are either published and/or developed by Altus. Out of the 14 titles post-E3 (via SEGA Nerds) that's six titles. I'm sure those are going to be showcased among their respective consoles at the big three booths in some way. As for everything else...

 

• 3 M2 titles (SEGA 3D Classics)
• Tembo (Game Freak)
• Rodea the Sky Solider (Prope)
• Dengeki Bunko Fighting Climax (Ecole Software/French Bread; I think this maaaaaaaaay be shown on the floor for the Vita, won't be surprised really)
• Yakuza 5 (the only other in-house, actually SEGA-developed title being released this year; the other being Hatsune Miku: Project MIRAI DX)
• Project X Zone 2 (Bandai Namco; Banpresto-Monolith Soft)

Just something funny I thought I'll post about. 

[Badnik Mechanic]

In fact, why don't we go through all the stuff Sega announced from April 2014 - today and look at all the stuff which hasn't come out/has totally vanished? 

 

Here are a few things which come into my mind instantly 

 

* Sonic Boom mobile app.

 

* Sonic & Sanrio partnership for Europe.

 

* Sega & Insert coin/random T-Shirt company *see video*

 

* Everything shown in this video.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpnIDRddCdk

 

* Those 40+ Boom licenses which Sega announced way back in February 2014!