SEGA Can't Rely on Recreating Old Experiences

Video game developer SEGA has long been associated with its best known character, Sonic, but the leader of the company believes that it needs to keep adapting the titles it offers to the modern gaming space in order to stay relevant.

Speaking to Gamasutra Mike Hayes, the president of SEGA, has said, “We have had experiences where we’ve tried to reinvent old Sega IP … Actually, we haven’t done it hugely successfully. And therefore we only embark upon something that uses the existing Sega IP if we can make it highly relevant for a modern audience.”

It seems that the executive was talking specifically about how the company handled the transition from 2D to 3D for its main franchise, Sonic.

Hayes added, “I think we realized about three or four years ago where we were perhaps going wrong on certain platforms, mostly PlayStation and Xbox. And I think it was because we didn’t actually realize that we’ve got these two broad audiences.”

He says that Sonic 4: Episode 1 has managed to perform well in the gamer segment that grew up with the character and likes the traditional platforming gameplay but the company president says that SEGA cannot afford to just play on nostalgia.

It seems that re-inventing Sonic is a tough task for the developers at SEGA and that it might be some time before all the fans of the series have a game that they have appreciate.

Hayes went on to compare the launch of Sonic 2 to the introduction of the Call of Duty franchise and believes that such a defining event affects the entire history of the company.

Executives at SEGA have previously said that they cannot ignore the history of the company and that they will continue to deliver re-makes and re-releases but that the publisher is also looking for innovative developers to create new game worlds.