Sega is planning on rebooting two of its classic franchises in an effort to find its own Fortnite, according to a report from Bloomberg. Citing people familiar with the company’s plans, the report claims that the massive Japanese publisher is currently in the early stages of developing new Jet Set Radio and Crazy Taxi games.
Sega’s unnamed Crazy Taxi reboot has reportedly been in development for over a year, with Sega planning to release the game fully in another two or three years. It’s not clear how long the upcoming Jet Set Radio game has been in development or when it will launch. However, both projects are in such early stages that they could both still be canceled, leaving their fates up in the air.
The two games would be the start of Sega’s “super game initiative,” a project centered around the company developing new revenue streams with existing IPs, as well as developing online communities based around those games. The company’s super game project is being made possible thanks to a team-up with Microsoft, which is letting Sega use its Azure cloud platform to produce these “super games.”
These “super games” are a large part of Sega’s long-term plans. According to a fiscal results presentation from March 2021, the creation of these games is a priority for the company, which has a lifetime sales goal of 100 billion yen for games made as part of this project. The presentation also mentions at least one other “super game” in development: A new first-person shooter being made by Sega’s European studio.
While it’s not clear how well either of Sega’s reportedly planned reboots will sell, both Jet Set Radio and Crazy Taxi have vocal,cult followings. Calls for a new Jet Set Radio game are so frequent that one developer, Team Reptile, is currently developing a spiritual successor to the franchise.
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