After Mass Delisting Of SEGA Titles From Online Storefronts, ‘Sonic The Hedgehog’ Parent Company Says They’re “Evaluating Some Opportunities” Related To Video Game Streaming
According to SEGA Europe and America President Shuji Utsumi, while the current media landscape is currently trying to figure how to best navigate the already murky world of online streaming, the Sonic the Hedgehog studio is currently playing with a possible move into such a subscription-based service.
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Speaking to the topic during a recent interview with the BBC‘s Tom Gerken, Utsumi noted that not only did he find the concept of subscription services to be “very interesting”, but also that he and his fellow Sega execs were currently “evaluating some opportunities.”
“We’re thinking something — and discussing something — we cannot disclose right now,” he told his host.
Interestingly, Utsumi offered his comments to the British news outlet just a few days after Sega completed its delisting of more than 70 of its classic titles, such as Crazy Taxi, Jet Set Radio, and NiGHTS into Dreams, from various virtual storefronts.
To this end, while it’s possible these two events happening relatively back-to-back is nothing more than a coincidence, speculation suggests that there’s also a non-zero possibility that it also could have been a result of a currently-underway-plan to build up a potential streaming library.
But regardless, on the consumer side of things, the reality is that the market for another subscription service is almost non-existent. At current, gamers are already being offered a bevy of video game streaming services including Xbox Game Pass, PlayStation Plus, Ubisoft +, EA Play, and Nintendo Switch Online, to name a few – to ask them to invest their time and money in another one is a tall ask.
And while subscriptions do admittedly offer a wide variety of games for a relatively low price, the perpetual membersip cost is rarely justified, as in most cases, these services scale their available titles by subscription tiers, with the Triple-A titles that really make them worth the money being locked behind much higher price points.
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If Sega opts for a subscription service, particularly one exclusive to a single publisher, it will be impossible to justify it. While the company has a vast catalog of titles that redefined gaming, these are 20+ years old, and paying a recurring monthly fee doesn’t make much sense. On another note, making it the only way to get those games has more chances of backfiring rather than succeeding, since Sega’s most loyal fans are retro gamers. And they might balk at paying a recurring fee for not owning their games.
Nevertheless, Sega does have some assets that could make a potential subscription service work. All the recent titles that have received rave reviews, such as Like a Dragon, new Sonic games, the Persona franchise, or even Bayonetta could attract dedicated and casual fans alike. These new releases could change the tide in Sega’s favor.
If something in that vein happens, it wouldn’t be the first time Sega goes into online subscription waters. For those unfamiliar, the Sega Channel was an online game service that launched in 1994 for the Sega Genesis. For a monthly fee, subscribers had access to a rotating selection of 50 games and later 70 games that switched each month and later biweekly, and even weekly. The online service also had game demos, cheat codes, and exclusive titles that didn’t see a physical release.
However, while praised and given the Best of What’s New award by the Popular Science website, Sega Channel received critiques for its high subscription cost. And there is little chance the company has learned anything from that. Ultimately, Sega Channel closed in 1998, ridiculed for poor timing and a meager 250,000 subscribers.
The new Sega subscription service, if it happens, could face the same unfortunate fate as the Sega Channel, coming out too late and now into an oversaturated market at a high cost for what it can offer. Moreover, by limiting access to its games through a subscription model, Sega risks losing its fanbase and even tarnishing its legacy.
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