Sega has some pretty big active franchises under its belt, but it’s indisputable that with the exception of a chosen few – such as Sonic – they haven’t really capitalized on their potential in terms of how they handle their releases. The likes of Yakuza and Persona, for instance, have generally been exclusive to specific platform ecosystems, while their worldwide releases have also come several months after their Japanese ones. That’s started changing of late, though. Yakuza has been brought over to additional platforms, Sega has talked about porting more Atlus games to additional platforms, and the upcoming Lost Judgment is going to see a simultaneous global launch. And it seems Sega wants that to continue.
Speaking in a recent interview with Famitsu (via Ryokutya), Sega vice president Shuji Utsumi revealed that last year’s Yakuza: Like a Dragon is the most successful game in the series thanks to its multiplatform launch, and added that Sega is considering a similar expansion for Atlus games. Speaking about Persona, Utsumi said that Sega is eyeing multiplatform and simultaneous global launches for all Atlus games, though there might, of course, be some exceptions.
Yakuza and Persona have both seen incredible critical and commercial success in recent years, so it makes sense that Sega will want to capitalize on that. Frankly, it’s a surprise that it’s taken them so long to take this step. Meanwhile, other properties such as Shin Megami Tensei and Etrian Odyssey could also benefit greatly from similar treatment. Here’s hoping.
