Following Sonic movie success, Sega teases Persona and Yakuza adaptations

Sega has said it’s keen to expand the reach of its biggest franchises beyond video games.

In an interview with CNBC, Sega chief operating officer Shuji Utsumi said the company wants to build on the success of Sonic’s recent movie and TV outings by adapting some of its other IPs.

“We just revived Sonic in a big way, not only through games but also remember movies and TV shows, and actually Sonic is in Roblox too, and we’re working closely now with Lego, so now Sonic is reviving,” he said.

“We have other major IPs and also, I cannot say too much about it, but we are thinking of reviving other classical Sega IPs too.”

Sonic the Hedgehog hit cinemas in 2020 and grossed almost $320 million at the box office. Its sequel arrived last year and generated over $405 million.

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is scheduled for release in December 2024. Before then, a live-action TV series starring Knuckles and set between the second and third movies will be released.

“Right now, there are two big IPs other than Sonic,” Utsumi said. “One is Persona. We are introducing two Personas this year. And also, our Yakuza title. I mean, Yakuza is really unique, but that big one is also coming next year too, so be ready [for Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth].

“But also, as I say, we are trying to be in a lot of different kinds of businesses, additional areas, like Roblox and movies. All these IPs can be somewhere else other than games soon.”

Further reading

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Sega exec says he wants to see Sonic surpassing Mario one day

"I want the movie to be a bigger hit than Mario"

Sega recently said that development of its first “Super Game” is progressing steadily.

Announced in May 2021, the Japanese publisher’s Super Game project will span multiple “triple-A titles that cross over Sega’s comprehensive range of technologies” and “go beyond the traditional framework of games”, according to Utsumi.