Sega's COO Shuji Utsumi has spoken about building the company's IPs outside of video games. Following the success of Sonic's revival, both in gaming and the movie adaptations, it seems that the developer is considering branching out its other major IPs into the movie space.
"We just revived Sonic in a big way, not only through games but also movies and TV shows, and Sonic is in Roblox, too. And we're working closely now with LEGO. So now Sonic is reviving," Utsumi said to CNBC.
"We have other major IPs, and I cannot say too much about it, but we are thinking of reviving other classical Sega IPs too. Right now, there are two big IPs other than Sonic. One is Persona, and also our Yakuza titles. Yakuza is really unique. But that big one is also coming next year too. But also, as I said, we are trying to be in many different kinds of business areas, like Roblox and movies. All these IPs can be somewhere else other than games soon."
As Yakuza and Persona aren't necessarily as recognisable as Sonic, it might take a bit more effort to get movie adaptations off the ground, but it's clear that video game movies can be a hit, as shown by The Super Mario Bros. Movie and Five Nights at Freddy's.
What would you want to see in Yakuza/Persona movies?