Sonic the Hedgehog’s Success Allowed Sega to Revive Older Franchises like Jet Set Radio, Crazy Taxi

Sega of America boss Shuji Utsumi spoke about the company building off the success of recent Sonic the Hedgehog titles.

Posted By | On 09th, Dec. 2023

Jet Set Radio

During The Game Awards 2023, Sega announced its plans to revive quite a few of its classic franchises, including Crazy Taxi and Jet Set Radio. In the press release announcing the revivals, Sega has revealed that the company has felt emboldened to bring back its legacy franchises thanks to the recent successes it has seen with Sonic the Hedgehog.

“In recent years, Sonic the Hedgehog has forged new paths for Sega, bringing the franchise to life and reaching new audiences in ways we had only dreamed of in the past,” said Co-COO of Sega Corporation and CEO of Sega of America Shuji Utsumi. “Building off that success, we are digging into our legacy and reimagining several franchises to bring these games to more audiences around the globe.”

Utsumi’s statement goes on to talk about how this is only the beginning for Sega.

“Today’s announcement is just the start of our initiative. First and foremost, our ambition will be to create great games with memorable characters and worlds. We hope fans of all ages will look towards our future with anticipation as we release these projects in the coming years.”

During its announcement at The Game Awards 2023, Sega confirmed that new games in the Jet Set Radio and Crazy Taxi are in development. The studio also announced new games for even older franchises, including Shinobi, Streets of Rage, and Golden Axe.

Sega recently released Sonic Superstars, which it had described as a new take on the classic 2D Sonic formula. Released back in October, Sonic Superstars has seemingly seen a weaker start than Sega had anticipated. Previously, the company had released Sonic Frontiers, which was quite successful and saw a host of content being released through post-launch updates.


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