Summary
- Sega’s president has admitted the studio is evaluating options for a streaming platform its games can call home.
- No firm details were confirmed but the remarks might explain why so many Sega games have been delisted.
- The bulk of Sega’s classic games were removed without explanation from multiple storefronts on December 6.
Sega removed many of its older games from all digital storefronts earlier this month and we still don’t know why. Comments made by Sega‘s president Shuji Utsumi may have shed some light on what’s going on behind the scenes, however, as he revealed the studio has been looking into starting its own subscription service.
Utsumi spoke with BBC to celebrate Sonic the Hedgehog 3 hitting cinemas last week, grabbing everyone’s attention by admitting there might still be a future for Sonic Adventure’s much-loved Chao Gardens. The president also touched on Sega games having a streaming service to call their own, admitting that the studio has been evaluating potential opportunities.
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“We’re thinking something – and discussing something – we cannot disclose right now,” Utsumi told BBC. Vague, but comments that make it seem as if Sega is further along with this plan than someone floating it in a meeting. Utsumi’s remarks make it sound like a plan has been determined, and the removal of so many classic Sega games from Steam and various console stores strongly hint a Sega streaming service is coming our way.
Sega Is Evaluating Options When It Comes To A Streaming Platform For Its Games
That Mass Delisting On December 6 Is Starting To Make More Sense
That can’t be confirmed until Sega makes it official, of course, but the stars do seem to be aligning. As for why the games were delisted almost three weeks ago but a potential Sega streaming platform is still a ways off, that remains a mystery. Golden Axe, Crazy Taxi, Altered Beast, and other games, and in some cases entire series, synonymous with Sega’s past are currently completely unavailable on modern platforms unless you own them already.
Sega being the studio to explore this is also a curious decision. EA and Ubisoft are the two big examples that spring to mind when it comes to studios that have tried to create their own streaming subscription services. However, even those behemoths have needed their platforms to be propped up via console services with a wider reach. EA Play is included with Game Pass Ultimate, and Ubisoft Plus Classics is included with PS Plus’s Extra and Premium tiers.
Perhaps those are the options Sega is currently evaluating. This might not be a standalone Sega streaming service, but one that is folded into a pre-existing option. Sega and Nintendo have a pretty close relationship, perhaps this culminates in Nintendo Switch Online having its own wing of Sega games. Having that available with popular Dreamcast games among the many in its library feels like the sort of announcement that would pair nicely with a Switch 2 reveal.
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