Sega is planning to remind us all that it still has plenty of successful franchises under its massive umbrella, even if we haven’t heard about them for many years. The publisher has revealed a programme of events to celebrate its vintage games throughout the course of 2026 via special “anniversary projects”. All this will take place under the banner of the new-fangled ‘Sega Universe’.
“We’ll shine a light on beloved past works that continue to be cherished by fans, and share new ways to enjoy them that transcend the world of games,” the Japanese publisher notes in a press release. Amazingly, the whole thing carries the motto: “No Old, Stay Gold.” As corporate slogans go, that is pretty tasty.
There’s no word on which projects will emerge as part of ‘Sega Universe’. Notably, Sega never promises new video games in these series so we may get merch, cross-media projects, DLC for other games, or special art instead. Who knows! Just don’t expect, say, a new NiGHTS game for PS5 and Xbox Series X/S (though that would be pretty sweet).
The timing is pretty good for Sega. This year, the publisher has a lot of anniversaries to celebrate, and I’ll note them in brackets next to the list below. Old-heads, brace yourselves – the games Sega specifically outlines as part of this celebration are:
- Outrun (40th anniversary)
- Streets of Rage (35th anniversary)
- NiGHTS (30th anniversary)
- SGGG (25th anniversary)
- Rent a Hero
- Fantasy Zone
- Guardian Heroes
- Dynamite Deka
- Sakura Wars
A post on the ‘Sega Universe’ website outlines a little more about what this mission is setting out to achieve: “Time has passed. With changing eras, some things were lost. Still, there is an impulse that never changed. A glare that never faded. Not to turn that recklessness into nostalgia. Not to say, ‘Those were the good old days.’ That frenzy is still alive somewhere, even now. Never rusted. Never dulled. So let’s do it again. Next time, even bolder.”
I must note, however, my expectations for whatever the ‘Sega Universe’ initiative yields is somewhat tempered by the publisher’s previous promises. Way back in December 2023, Sega unveiled its “Power Surge” marketing campaign, where it teased new games in the Jet Set Radio, Crazy Taxi, Streets of Rage, Golden Axe, and Shinobi series. This was two and a half years ago, and the only real manifestation we’ve seen from this is the (admittedly fantastic) Shinobi: Art of Vengeance, which launched last year.
Since then, we’ve learned that the original developers are involved with whatever is going on with the new Jet Set Radio titIe. And we do know that there’s another Virtua Fighter in development, too, at the very least.
