SEGA recently revealed that it was returning to self-publishing its games in Europe, and ever since then we’ve been waiting eagerly for that day to come. The first title to be published by SEGA Europe will be Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II in May, followed closely by Sonic Adventure DX and Virtua Fighter 4 Evolution in June.
Since SEGA dropped out of the hardware market, Infogrames and THQ have been sharing duties in publishing certain SEGA titles in the West. While SEGA of America’s office was still active, SEGA Europe ceased publishing operations entirely… until PSO I & II’s release in May, that is.
SEGA will open up offices in both London and Paris to manage the publishing duties across PAL territories. That means not just UK and France, but rest of Europe, Australia and New Zealand too.
“Sega Europe is now in a position to get closer to the European games market, with its own publishing operation,” SEGA Europe president Naoya Tsurumi said in a report on Gamespot. “The transition from hardware manufacturer to software publisher is now complete, and we see the next few years as an incredibly exciting time for growth for Sega Europe.”
Fitting for us that the first games to launch under the SEGA Europe label will be Sonic Team-developed titles. We can’t wait!