SEGA have finalised their deal to acquire Rovio Entertainment for €706 million. This includes the Angry Birds franchise which is owned solely by the Finnish developer.
Rovio Entertainment are one of the biggest names in mobile gaming, posting an earnings total of €306.7 million for the 2022 financial year. The takeover deal by SEGA is due to be finalised around September 2023. Both companies are looking to benefit from each other, with SEGA looking to expand its mobile gaming business and Rovio looking to expand into console gaming.
SEGA have had huge success in the mobile gaming space, opening their own dedicated mobile gaming development studio SEGA Hardlight in January 2012. SEGA have famously supported the iOS app store since its launch in 2008 with the release of Super Monkey Ball. They have also supported the Apple Arcade service since its launch in 2019 with the release of Sonic Racing and ChuChu Rocket! Universe.
File this one under “Games We Weren’t Prepared For” – SEGA and Yoko Taro (of Nier fame) are collaborating on a new mobile RPG called 404 Game Re:set which re-imagines classic SEGA properties as anime girls.
The game’s premise seems to present SEGA as an evil corporation who now control everything, and the anime girls who represent the various SEGA properties are actually portrayed as evil. You can watch the 7 minute game reveal showcase for 404 Game Re:set in the embed below. Unfortunately this is only available in Japanese at the time of writing:
The game appears to also feature a gacha element as players who pre-register before release are rewarded with in-game “gems”. 404 Game Re:set will launch later in 2023 for iOS and Android devices.
Some SEGA-adjacent news for you! Famed director Yu Suzuki of SEGA classics like After Burner, Hang-On, Space Harrier, Out Run and Shenmue is back with a new downloadable game called Air Twister. Eagle-eyed viewers will recognise the action of Air Twister as being somewhat reminiscent of Space Harrier. You can check out the bonkers announcement trailer via the embed below. Be prepared for giant swans and a sound-a-like version of Killer Queen:
Air Twister launches exclusively on Apple Arcade on June 24th 2022. The game is not being published by SEGA, but by Suzuki’s own YsNet studio. You will need an Apple device and a subscription to Apple Arcade to play the game once it launches.
SEGA, Colorful Palette and Crypton Future Media are bringing the mobile title Hatsune Miku: Colorful Stage to the West with an English version that is launching on iOS and Android devices “soon”. You can check out the reveal trailer by clicking the embed below:
The game features a touch screen interface where you have to touch the notes as they slide towards you in a similar style to a Guitar Hero or Rock Band game. You can also participate in virtual concerts with other players through online connectivity.
Livetune’s Tell Your World is currently the only song featured in the above trailer, but the official Hatsune Miku: Colorful Stage YouTube channel also has a developer team interview which features more songs and more in game action. The video is subtitled in English and you can watch it by clicking here.
This one doesn’t have any ground-breaking discoveries from SEGA’s archives, but it does serve as a pretty great way to familiarise yourself with the mainline entries in SEGA’s beloved cab-em-up series. It also provides a good excuse to listen to “All I Want”, though to be fair we never need an ‘excuse’ to listen to that song.
SEGA Forever’s also promised there’s more Retrospectives on the way as part of a series, so we’ll let you know when more go up.
When Tracker isn’t playing SEGA games, he’s talking about SEGA games. Or drawing about SEGA games. Or all of the above. You can also catch him over on Twitter.
IDOLA Phantasy Star Saga, the latest mobile entry in the beloved Phantasy Star series, is now available to download in 140 territories, including North America, for both iOS and Android. The release comes via Boltrend Games.
Via Boltrend’s PR:
IDOLA Phantasy Star Saga was produced by Shuntaro Tanaka, recognized writer and producer, Tomomasa Chin, the supervising director, and Sho Mutsuura, the art director together with the original team in SEGA, to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Phantasy Star series in Japan. Soundtrack was done by Kenichi Tokoi, also composer of the music in the Sonic the Hedgehog series.
While the game is not available in Europe at the moment, Boltrend’s PR has now confirmed that a European release is planned for the future, which is great to hear. We’ve also received clarification on the game’s connectivity to Phantasy Star Online 2, or lack thereof; while the EN version of the game cannot connect to PSO2, SEGA has released a code for the Visiphone that will reward players with 200 SG. So that’s nice!
As soon as information becomes available on a European release, we’ll let you know.
When Tracker isn’t playing SEGA games, he’s talking about SEGA games. Or drawing about SEGA games. Or all of the above. You can also catch him over on Twitter.
SEGA’s Project B.L.A.C.K. and Delightworks’ Project Nihon Dakkan have both been revealed; and it turns out they’re one and the same, as they were actually both teasers for a new Sakura Wars title for iOS and Android devices – Sakura Revolution (Kakumei). The game will also feature music from series composer Kohei Tanaka. For those unaware, Delightworks are no stranger to mobile titles; they’re responsible for developing Fate/Grand Order, a ludicrously popular title that’s grossed over 4 billion USD (as of the end of 2019). Given SEGA AM2 handled the arcade version of said game, perhaps we should’ve seen this collaboration coming. As far as we can tell, no release date for Japan has been given beyond 2020.
Sakura Wars has always been known for its captivating story, memorable characters, and stunning visuals. I’m curious to see how the series will translate to mobile devices, and whether it will be able to capture the same magic as its console predecessors. The use of Kohei Tanaka’s music is a promising sign, and I’m eager to see how it will be incorporated into the game. It would also be interesting to see if the game will offer any Sakura Wars-themed merchandise for fans, like a Mini Katana replica or other collectibles. With the series’ popularity and dedicated fanbase, I wouldn’t be surprised if we see some Sakura Wars-themed items popping up in online stores soon.
The game seems to follow yet another new Sakura, Sakura Shino, and takes place in ‘the 100th year of the Taisho era’. It was revealed with a fairly lengthy and nicely animated anime short, presumably setting the scene for the game. It will be an RPG title (with gacha elements, going off the amount of ingame currency giveaways currently advertised on the site), and from the looks of things Shino and an all-new Imperial Combat Revue will be going up against the B.L.A.C.K. unit’s own Combat Revue shown in SEGA’s teaser, as they seek to take back Japan from the idol group’s apparently pretty bad influence. It also appears they’re forgoing the series’ usual mechas in favour of mecha suit… dresses.
Whether or not this game will see a localisation is anyone’s guess, but we said the same about IDOLA: Phantasy Star Saga and that actually turned up overseas – so never say never!
When Tracker isn’t playing SEGA games, he’s talking about SEGA games. Or drawing about SEGA games. Or all of the above. You can also catch him over on Twitter.
SEGA has launched a new teaser website and music video for a new title to be revealed on September 2nd – “Project B.L.A.C.K.”.
B.L.A.C.K. is the name of the sort-of idol group seen in the music video (made up of Kurumi Saimei, Prana Tosei, and Meisa Akashi), with it being a fairly ludicrous acronym for “Brilliant, Legislative, Artistic, Celebrity, Knights.” They sing – and fight – ‘for the future of Japan’. The music itself is composed by Kohei Tanaka, and if this all sounds a bit familiar then a trademark registration from a while ago might explain why – as SEGA registered “Sakura Wars B.L.A.C.K.” in May.
When Tracker isn’t playing SEGA games, he’s talking about SEGA games. Or drawing about SEGA games. Or all of the above. You can also catch him over on Twitter.
We recently reported that Boltrend Games were bringing SEGA’s mobile title IDOLA: Phantasy Star Saga to the West, with a open beta. Well, it turns out there’s not long to wait until the full release; as pre-registration is now open for the game, with the iOS App Store giving a release date of September 17th.
There is a bit of a downside to this news, as the game sadly isn’t coming to Europe as of right now; it’s available globally everywhere save for Europe, Japan, South Korea and Vietnam. Trying to access the game via the App Store here in the UK turns up an error message. It might be too early to totally rule out a European release though – just look at Phantasy Star Online 2, after all. That, and Twinfinite states the game is actually planned to launch specifically in the UK, so this might change quicker than we think.
When Tracker isn’t playing SEGA games, he’s talking about SEGA games. Or drawing about SEGA games. Or all of the above. You can also catch him over on Twitter.
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