With recent video game adaptations like The Super Mario Bros. Movie, The Last of Us, and Sonic the Hedgehog striking critical and commercial gold across cinemas and streaming, Sega is looking to translate more of its IP, including Yakuza/Like a Dragon and Persona, into movies and other spin-offs.
The revelation comes via a CNBC interview with Sega COO Shuji Utsumi. After citing the renewed success of Sonic the Hedgehog thanks to the live-action movies and recent Sonic Superstars, Utsumi referenced both Persona and Yakuza as franchises that could be expanded beyond traditional gaming. It’s worth noting that Utsumi did not only refer to filmic works but also to platforms like Roblox.
“As I say, we are trying to be in a lot of different categories, different areas like Roblox, movies,” he said. “All these IPs can be somewhere else other than games soon.”
He also teased that these efforts won’t necessarily only apply to Sega’s blockbuster franchises, either. “We have other major IPs,” Utsumi said. “We are thinking of reviving other classical IPs too.” That could hint at the reboot projects for Jet Set Radio and Crazy Taxi that were originally rumored last year.
The comments follow Sega’s unsuccessful attempts to bring the Shenmue series back to life, first with the belated sequel Shenmue III in 2019 and then with an anime adaptation last year, which was not renewed for a second season. However, the approach has been fruitful for Capcom, which announced Dragon’s Dogma II in the wake of the anime adaptation of the original game and launched Onimusha just recently.
However, it sounds like new movies in the Yakuza and Persona franchises are likely to be a long way off, with no official word coming down the pike as yet. Fans still have plenty to look forward to, though, with Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth set to launch in January 2024, while Persona 3 Reload is scheduled to arrive in February.
