SEGA Just Delayed Jet Set Radio & Crazy Taxi to FY2028... What Now?
Midori has dropped a new leak onto twitter that is bound to be very tough for a lot of legacy SEGA fans, with a major delay being imposed on several major titles in SEGA’s future line-up, now, it’s very easy to begin doom posting and getting very opinionated, however, I want to provide a clarification of what Midori stated with her own tweets and help clear the air, and provide a more balanced, calmer opinion, so let’s get started.
Midori is
reporting that SEGA has internally delayed their Super Game titles to after the
fiscal year of 2028. FY2028 begins from 1st April, 2027 to 31st
March, 2028. For context, the aim was to release their Super Games by FY2026.
These titles include the “Games As A Service” reboots of Jet Set Radio and
Crazy Taxi, and the single-player remakes of these respective titles. Last
year, Jet Set Radio (GaaS) had research done on competition free-to-play
shooters to help inform decisions behind the development of the game, and this
included research on weapons such as guns that could be obtained in-game and
sever implementation. The titles were already delayed twice before, including
the original reveal dates. As for the original release date plans, Jet Set
Radio, both the reboot and remake were due for release in 2026, with the Crazy
Taxi reboot and remake due for release in 2027. Golden Axe was also effected
here, as it was supposed to be released individually last year and had marketing
already created, but plans were changed.
Now, let me
repeat something, there is two Jet Set Radio titles, and two Crazy Taxi titles.
Jet Set Radio has the GaaS title, the Super Game, and Jet Set Radio Remake, a
remake of the original on Dreamcast built in Unreal Engine 5, with the same
with Crazy Taxi too. The plan was to release the remakes before the reboots as
a good gesture to fans, however with the delay of the GaaS titles, a delay of
the remakes are likely.
Midori also
gives us an idea about what a Super Game is, as she uses Phantasy Star Online
2: New Genesis as the example, as that is classed as a Super Game, the very
first Super Game. Virtua Fighter 6 is also another major online title that we
know exists, al be it in a unofficial capacity, which while including some
Super Game elements, is still being targeted as a traditional fighting game. She
also tells us that the Super Game project began development in the summer of 2021,
which was at the same time as the future of the Sonic series was being
developed, as Sonic Origins, Sonic Frontiers and Sonic Superstars we all being
worked on concurrently at the time.
Finally, a
bit of light at the end of the tunnel, Midori drops another leak, that a Phantasy
Star Online Spin-Off title is in development and is due for release this fiscal
year, another title on a already packed SEGA year.
So, with all of the info wrapped up for you, what are my thoughts? Well, I am relieved.
Sega has
always had a problem with rushing out titles when they are clearly on ready,
but with how Sonic Frontiers was delayed by a year internally, Shin Megami
Tensei V Vengeance releasing a week earlier and Sonic X Shadow Generations already
being finished and is still releasing as late as it is, this SEGA, the new
SEGA, is a SEGA who is willing to bite the bullet and do the right thing.
Delays are ultimately good, no matter how hard you try to spin it.
For Jet Set
Radio and Crazy Taxi GaaS being delayed, this is a good opportunity, as it
let’s SEGA Division 3 and Sapporo Studio have more time to launch those games
with a slew of new features, modes, content and more, which will benefit the
full reveal and launch.
I’ve also
seen a lot of anti-gaas tweets, but I feel those come from players who are very
quickly cynical about the idea. I’ve always been of the belief that no idea is
a and idea, it’s ultimately the execution that either helps or kill that idea.
This also is a major push into a market that SEGA hasn’t given enough
attention.
You see, this is a large problem SEGA has that nobody has talked about, but SEGA has a very limited portfolio. There isn’t any IP that is pushing online shooters, horror, party games, etc. They have areas they can grow that makes sense for a game developer to do, and I feel many are being unnecessarily scared of SEGA branching out, which for a company to stay relevant and healthy, needs to happen, it’s why SEGA is really pushing mobile titles and is invested in their multimedia strategy. The new news is a gut punch but is ultimately necessary to give these titles the best chance possible and I hope the developers really push their ideas to their highest potential.
Thanks for reading this post, especially since this new recently dropped today and I felt it was important for me to talk about, so again, thank you, and have a great day!
Link to Midori's Twitter and initial tweet can be found here -
https://x.com/MbKKssTBhz5
https://x.com/MbKKssTBhz5/status/1796576390554501581
Comments
Post a Comment