Sega president says "reviving" the Sonic maker will be "the greatest achievement in my career," despite also working on the first PlayStation and helping make Kingdom Hearts happen

• Copy link
• Facebook
• X
• Whatsapp
• Pinterest
• Flipboard
• Email

Share this article

0

Join the conversation

Follow us

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Newsletter

Get the GamesRadar+ Newsletter

Weekly digests, tales from the communities you love, and more

Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors

---

By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

You are now subscribed

Your newsletter sign-up was successful

---

Want to add more newsletters?

Every Friday

GamesRadar+

Your weekly update on everything you could ever want to know about the games you already love, games we know you're going to love in the near future, and tales from the communities that surround them.

Signup +

Every Thursday

GTA 6 O'clock

Our special GTA 6 newsletter, with breaking news, insider info, and rumor analysis from the award-winning GTA 6 O'clock experts.

Signup +

Every Friday

Knowledge

From the creators of Edge: A weekly videogame industry newsletter with analysis from expert writers, guidance from professionals, and insight into what's on the horizon.

Signup +

Every Thursday

The Setup

Hardware nerds unite, sign up to our free tech newsletter for a weekly digest of the hottest new tech, the latest gadgets on the test bench, and much more.

Signup +

Every Wednesday

Switch 2 Spotlight

Sign up to our new Switch 2 newsletter, where we bring you the latest talking points on Nintendo's new console each week, bring you up to date on the news, and recommend what games to play.

Signup +

Every Saturday

The Watchlist

Subscribe for a weekly digest of the movie and TV news that matters, direct to your inbox. From first-look trailers, interviews, reviews and explainers, we've got you covered.

Signup +

Once a month

SFX

Get sneak previews, exclusive competitions and details of special events each month!

Signup +

---

An account already exists for this email address, please log in.

Subscribe to our newsletter

Sega president Shuji Utsumi, who previously worked on the original PlayStation and was responsible for Disney and Square Enix joining forces for Kingdom Hearts, says he wants to be remembered for "Reviving Sega."

2024 was undoubtedly Sega's year. Launching the year with Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth and Persona 3 Reload, and capping it off with the game of the year nominated Metaphor: ReFantazio, it's no wonder it was the best publisher of 2024 on Metacritic. And even outside of games, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 did extremely well in the cinema, becoming the second video game movie to ever be certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.

Speaking to The Game Business, Sega president and COO Shuji Utsumi was asked what he thought his greatest achievement was throughout his career, which has included the likes of the original PlayStation, Dreamcast classics, making Kingdom Hearts happen, and, most importantly, co-founding Q Entertainment, which led to Lumines existing. But for Utsumi, it was none of the above. "Now I've rejoined Sega and I'm working on reviving Sega… I want to say this is going to be my greatest achievement in my career."

After leaving Sega in 2000, Utsumi rejoined the publisher in 2020, noting, "when I rejoined Sega, the Japanese studios [were] somehow paying attention to the domestic market, like the Japanese market more, even though Sega is such a beloved company among [the] western audience." He says that Sega then decided that Japanese and international releases would launch simultaneously, as well as all platforms, including PC, at the same time. We've seen this pay off with recent releases like Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth and Persona 3 Reload.

Utsumi added, "by changing the system, studios started to think 'oh we have to prepare in the early stages', and that somehow helped their thinking process to develop a game." And clearly this has worked out well, because Sega is now at its brightest point since the Mega Drive era.

It's so over: Sonic boss Takashi Iizuka says there are "currently no plans" for Sonic Adventure remakes as they would take "as much time and energy as it would to make a new title."