Sega Sammy Holdings Inc. is developing big-budget reboots of its Dreamcast games Crazy Taxi and Jet Set Radio as it taps its back catalog in search of global hits like Epic Games Inc.’s Fortnite, according to people familiar with its plans.
The two titles would be the first entries in Sega’s Super Game initiative, which the company announced a year ago as an effort to develop recurring revenue sources and build online communities around its software portfolio. Fortnite has become the role modelfor such games: free to play, it’s available across platforms, hosts large multiplayer contests and includes extras like vehicles, construction and social events on top of the usual combat, spurring player purchases of in-game items.
If this article is accurate, we might be playing new versions of these games in a few years. I think both series could be suited to a more open world or multiplayer gameplay compared with what we’ve played in the past. Although we might prefer stand alone single player games, I can understand from a business perspective why Sega would want to shift in a “games as a service” direction.