Sega, Microsoft Announce Strategic Alliance To Develop 'Super Game' Initiative On Azure

An anonymous reader quotes a report from GeekWire: The Japanese video game company Sega announced Monday that it plans to "explore a strategic alliance" with Microsoft, which will see Sega build new games and overhaul its development process via Microsoft's Azure platform. The new alliance is part of a forward-focused initiative at Sega called "Super Game." According to a news release, Microsoft's Azure provides Sega with a "next-generation development platform" that Sega can customize to account for different styles of work and infrastructural changes. "SEGA has played such an iconic role in the gaming industry and has been a tremendous partner over the years," Microsoft CVP Sarah Bond said in a statement. "We look forward to working together as they explore new ways to create unique gaming experiences for the future using Microsoft cloud technologies. Together we will reimagine how games get built, hosted, and operated, with a goal of adding more value to players and Sega alike."

According to Sega, the key focuses behind Super Game are the keywords "Global," "Online," "Community," and "IP utilization." With 5G on its way to supercharge cloud gaming in many parts of the world, Sega is explicitly using Microsoft Azure in an attempt to anticipate and serve whatever the next trend might be. The name of the initiative follows up on information spotted in Sega's March 2021 financial presentation, where the company stated that its strategy included the creation of a Super Game within the next five years, defined as a title that "can be expanded globally." With IP utilization as one of the Super Game's hallmarks, it suggests that Sega plans to turn one of its tentpole franchises -- the same financial report mentioned Phantasy Star Online, Sonic the Hedgehog, Persona, Yakuza, and Total War as potential candidates -- to be made into a big-ticket service game. Whatever that ends up being, its development process will be powered by Microsoft Azure.

Did they miss any buzzword

[luvirini]

Besides blockchain?

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[timeOday]

Both parties are speaking pure gibberish. It decodes to: 'derp'

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[jfdavis668]

Beowolf Cluster?

Sounds like a mobile game ie. not a game

[Lobotomy656]

All this bullshit points towards a mobile game with zero gameplay and all monetization you can think of. They're basically starting game development with marketing as the driving factor. It will be a disaster! I remind you that last time Microsoft dabbled in using cloud tech for games (Crackdown 3) it delayed the game significantly, delivered 10% of what was promised and ultimately could probably be done locally on a phone rather than the cloud.

tl;dr

[Opportunist]

Sonic gets yet another resurrection.

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[Ferocitus]

As Clippy the Hedgehog.

In other words

[DarkRookie2]

Microsoft, Sega, et al, are trying to make games the next piece of software to be ruined by going sub based.

Poor old Sega

[Viol8]

Still desperately trying to remain relevant. Their own fault - they could have still been top of the console heap except cost cutting pointy hairs gave rise to the underpowered Saturn and Dreamcast while Sony and Nintendo really pushed the technical boat out.

Re: Poor old Sega

[NagrothAgain]

The Dreamcast was fine, what killed the Sega hardware platform was.... Microsoft. They were partners in developing the Dreamcast 2, but at the 11th hour MS backed out of the project and Sega was left cash strapped with nowhere to turn. MS had been responsible for much of the hardware, and the OS which was going to be another version of Windows CE like on the first console.

MS then took their share of the project, kicked AMD in the teeth for good measure, slapped a new shell and logo on it, and called it the

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[DarkRookie2]

What killed Sega wasn't Microsoft, but Sega.
Either by releasing poorly conscientious hardware add-ons, or releasing a console before anyone could make games for it.

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[Cinder6]

Exactly. Sega was doomed even had the Dreamcast been a runaway hit. Turns out that alienating customers (terrible messaging, pricey and poorly supported add-ons), retailers (Saturn launch fiasco, anyone?), and developers (Saturn, 32x, Sega CD ...), in addition to abysmal and dysfunctional business practices, isn't a good way to run a company.

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[tlhIngan]

Exactly. Sega was doomed even had the Dreamcast been a runaway hit. Turns out that alienating customers (terrible messaging, pricey and poorly supported add-ons), retailers (Saturn launch fiasco, anyone?), and developers (Saturn, 32x, Sega CD ...), in addition to abysmal and dysfunctional business practices, isn't a good way to run a company.

The Dreamcast was a hit. So much so that Sony had to be very aggressive on their marketing because the PS2 was going to be launching soon and the specs on that were not

cloud GPU's are pricey and for the end user

[Joe_Dragon]

cloud GPU's are pricey and for the end user will they like needing to wait in line to play for an Max of an few hours time if there zone is overloaded?

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[DarkRookie2]

If its a cloud, especially from Microsoft, it should not ever "run out"

Are you going to play off of a live stream?

[jellomizer]

The only real advantage of using a cloud solution for a game, would be that you use the cloud to render your game for you in real time and send the final image back to your display. I am not sure if our networking infrastructure is up to non-buffered 4k display. Especially as some Gamers have issues with displays that are under 120htz.

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[ssyladin]

Back in my day we had 60Hz, or 50 if them fer-en-ers brought their TVs with 'em. And we liked it!

Announcement that nothing has happened

[WoodstockJeff]

This isn't an announcement of a "strategic alliance", it's an announcement of a plan to explore a possible future alliance.

Nothing is set in stone. Not even the exploration.

Meh... Bleh...

[neuro88]

This sums up my reaction pretty well: https://www.penny-arcade.com/c... [penny-arcade.com]