Sega reportedly wants yearly Persona, Sonic games

With more Like A Dragon as well

Sega

Sega is hoping to make yearly Persona, Like A Dragon, and Sonic games the company’s new reality, a new rumor suggests. The rumor comes from prolific – and accurate – Sega leaker and Twitter user Midori, and while we aren’t usually keen to take even reputable leakers at face value, Midori’s information lines up with what Sega said in a previous financial report.

Midori says Sega considers Sonic, Like A Dragon, and Persona as its core brands. The company has also said in previous reports and held up all three as pillars of its entertainment business after pulling in $2.58 billion in 2023 – despite video game sales actually being down that fiscal year. Sega also promised at the time to continue growing its main franchises with new games and a broader “transmedia strategy,” which likely includes Sonic movies and the upcoming Yakuza movie.

The current plan at Sega is to make Like a Dragon, Persona and Sonic annual franchises through new titles, remakes and remasters, DLC expansions and other media.

I think this is unannounced information.

— みどり (@MbKKssTBhz5) May 10, 2024

Midori says Sega’s goal is having multiple projects for its major series in development at once, though naturally, they won’t all be major releases. The project pipeline will include spinoffs and remakes. That business stance likely explains why we saw Persona 5 Tactica launch just months before Persona 3 Reload and similarly close release timeframes for Like A Dragon Gaiden and Like A Dragon Infinite Wealth. 

Sega reportedly won’t ignore its other franchises, though. One Twitter user asked about Jet Set Radio and Crazy Taxi, and Midori said Sega sees these as less profitable, but still important forays into game revivals and, in Crazy Taxi’s case, games-as-a-service ventures.

As for what Sega has next on the games front, that’s anyone’s guess. Atlus’ Metaphor ReFantazio launches in October 2024, and even though Persona 6 has reportedly been in the works since 2019, we’ve seen and heard approximately nothing about it yet.