No, this is not an exploration of alternate history: there is plenty of that already. Fandom, like any other passion, can cloud judgment and prompt wishing for that which may or may not have really been better. Yet, while my own regard for Sega cools in the present day (due to them becoming a woke company), I better-appreciate the classic legacy they left even if it falls after what may be considered a post-classic era.
I figure I will not be among those bothering to speculate how things could have turned out differently at the end of the Dreamcast era had some better business decisions been made in years prior; I will leave that to the bigger diehards. What is true enough is that the end of Sega as a console maker was one of those seismic shifts, a gaming market equivalent to the breakup of the Soviet Union or the 9/11 attacks. Nothing would be the same and there was no going back, so what would the adaptation look like?
Thankfully for us Sega fans, it was not only remarkably smooth but fortuitous gaining within just a couple years. Well before the official end of Dreamcast, the successor to Game Gear on the portable front had been adopted: SNK's Neo Geo Pocket Color was a close enough companion to Dreamcast that certain games on both consoles could interface with each other, both a coincidental lead-up to exploiting near-identical capability on Nintendo's Game Boy Advance (which, due to being the only significant option, was every developer's handheld console from 2001 to 2004) and a testament to Sega's new strategy of forming alliances with other gaming companies. Sega's adept in-house talent continued production of their bread-and-butter arcade games, and for the 6th console generation would make original titles for the former competition's systems.
It was rough at first, but this multi-tiered approach would succeed well enough to enable Sega to grow again. Upon reaching the 7th generation Sega was poised as not just a developer but one of the bigger publishers as well. Via acquisitions in some cases, alliances in others, a Sega game may not be a Sega original anymore but at least it was once again like back in the Genesis through Dreamcast days in that they could ensure the game reached their systems by handling the publishing. The narrowing of my focus on this subject in the space of a single blog post is also what prompted the idea for this topic. Through the month of July until near its end, I was among those scrambling to take final advantage of the Xbox 360 Marketplace before its final closure on the 29th. At least in the case of Sega games the checklist was not enormous because most of their download-only titles (and major ones with downloadable content) are still available due to being made backwards-compatible on the Xbox One & Series families (obviously Sega and Microsoft are still on cozy terms) so I could skip those. In going through all that I noticed the diversity of producers, genres and franchises that carried the Sega name yet with only a fraction being Sega originals. In business by the numbers Sega may be doing the best they ever have in their entire history, acquiring a growing list of properties while collaborating with independent companies to rebuild a gaming empire of their own. Using the Xbox 360 library as a base reference, this post will overview these collaborating companies and touch on their impacts. Monolith Productions
This is but the first of many "Wow, those guys?!" being covered today. Originally envisioned as a West Coast-based division of shareware gaming giant Apogee Software (from whom they inherited the Build Engine shooter Blood as their premiere title), built reputation through original offerings such as No One Lives Forever and F.E.A.R., and their LithTech engine family continues as a viable alternative to those of bigger players such as Unreal or id Tech. They may never have produced a AAA hit but prove content to make themselves available for a variety of producers and licenses. Their collaboration with Sega was the Condemned duology, of which Xbox 360 happens to be the only platform featuring both entries. Combining Monolith's signature brutal violence with a concept not out of place as an alternative to The House of the Dead, both games earned acclaim yet the series was put on hiatus afterward. Sega certainly does not mind dabbling in the horror genre (see Deep Fear, Illbleed, Kenji Eno's offerings) and these two titles serve as a solid continuation of that.
Pseudo Interactive
A developer with such a small catalog they might be considered "indy" by modern terms, at first it did not seem that would be the case for them. After their cartoony premier in the vehicular combat genre, Cel Damage (published by Electronic Arts), Pseudo's alliance with Sega started on a potential renewal of the Vectorman franchise which had been a technical marvel in the later life of the Genesis. When that fell through what Sega published instead was the combat racing Full Auto duology, a unique series due to its first entry being exclusive to Xbox 360 while its second is exclusive to PlayStation 3 (albeit another producer ported a take on the second game to PlayStation Portable).
Sports Interactive
For those of us in North America and/or focused on Sega's console exploits, this may be a name that is glossed over due to their chiefly European and PC exclusivity. They started their famous sports business with the Championship Manager series published by Domark (who evolved into Eidos Interactive), but a falling-out with that publisher found them on their own and unable to take the Championship Manager name with them. They revived their specialty as Football Manager (obviously European), which has new annual entries and occasional spin-offs continuing to be published by Sega. FromSoftware
The home of Armored Core franchise has only collaborated with Sega a handful of times but the original offerings are of note. While Sega is merely functioning as publisher in all these instances, they did so for the Otogi duology on Xbox (available for download via Xbox One backwards compatibility today, plus enhanced for those of us who have a Xbox One X or Series X) and the non-Armored Core mech combat game Chromehounds for Xbox 360 (not backwards compatible with succeeding consoles). The Bomdog Studios game Modular Assault Vehicle makes no secret of its Chromehounds inspiration, though neither FromSoftware nor Sega have anything to do with it.
Bizarre Creations
Known mainly for their racing games and untimely death from less-than-successful efforts going cross-genre, their relationship with Sega began with Metropolis Street Racing for Dreamcast which served as prologue to the Project Gotham Racing franchise (all such entries of which are owned by Microsoft and exclusive to Xbox consoles). The company's first dabble into violent shooters was another collaboration with Sega: The Club was released in 2008 for all 3 major HD platforms (including PC) but clearly geared most towards Xbox 360. Bizarre's second shooter turned out to be their final game as 007: Blood Stone fell short of success despite its strong license and great looks (with adept driving sequences). Sumo Digital
Speaking of racing (plus sports in general), here is a company who continues to have a close relationship with Sega, to the point of gaining the honor of working with several of their most classic properties. At first they collaborated with AM2 and AM3 to adapt, respectively, entries in the OutRun and Virtua Tennis franchises to 6th and 7th generations consoles. This gained them recognition of their distinct talent and earned them command of the multi-franchise Sega Superstars series. The first entry had been developed by Sonic Team exclusively for PlayStation 2's EyeToy camera control; it was a neat experiment but missed what was needed for mass appeal. Sumo first took it to a better direction from the Virtua Tennis formula with Sega Superstars Tennis, then really hit home with their take on the arcade racing formula with Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing. All entries in this series are simple to pick and up play, riotous fun that need not take much time, and with such low demands they translated very well in porting to numerous platforms.
Petroglyph Studios
Following their independence from Electronic Arts and rising from the ashes of real-time strategy mages Westwood Studios, the developer known simply as Petroglyph Games today premiered with a LucasArts collaboration in a genre that company had historically struggled to find success in. Star Wars: Empire at War accomplished that goal while ushering in the Alamo engine which would be used for Petroglyph's second game, a collaboration with Sega called Universe at War: Earth Assault. While that game was not successful enough to lead to the planned franchise, it made its mark in gaming history as the first A-list title offering cross-platform multiplayer between Xbox 360 and PC via the Vista-era Games for Windows Live service (though reviews indicate the Xbox 360 port is so rough console players would be at no small disadvantage).
The Creative Assembly
This is one of those companies who made such a big name for themselves in modern times it is easy to miss how long they have actually been around (they were responsible for porting MicroPlay's Stunt Track Racer to PC in 1989). Since 2005 they have been a Sega subsidiary, prior to which their Total War series and occasional original game bounced between various publishers. In the 1990s they had a significant relationship with Electronic Arts, their name appearing on the PC ports of several EA Sports entries that involved games popular outside the US.
Thus EA published the premiere entry Shogun: Total War, but that alliance soon ended with Activision picking up sequels Medieval and Rome, after which Sega stepped in. The first fruits of this arrangement were the expansion packs for Rome: Total War and a console-exclusive genre-switched spin-off, Spartan: Total Warrior. All regular strategy entries and expansions of Total War are exclusive to home computers (where the genre is most at home), while consoles received another spin-off in Viking: Battle for Asgard (successor to Spartan), original game Stormrise, licensed game Alien: Isolation, plus Creative Assembly was recognized well enough by Microsoft to be chosen to succeed Age of Empires developer Ensemble Studios with Halo Wars 2. Secret Level
Another developer that would be acquired by Sega in the mid-2000s (re-christened as Sega Studios San Francisco), their premiere was the Dreamcast edition of Epic's Unreal Tournament. They would be best-known for their porting work (bringing LucasArts' Star Wars: Starfighter duology plus America's Army to Xbox), then as an internal Sega team they got the stab at a new entry in the classic Sega series, Golden Axe: Beast Rider. Unfortunately both that and their following 2 works which licensed Marvel's Iron Man movies playing at the time were rough and not well-received, leading to this studio's end in 2010.
Backbone Entertainment
Successor to [and, in one of those twists of the business world, also predecessor o] Digital Eclipse, both companies build their widest reputation on re-releases of retro games, frequently in compilation form. Sega was no exception, Backbone being the developer behind several Genesis games on Xbox 360 Live Arcade which culminated in 2009 with Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection (big upgrade to Sega Genesis Collection which had been produced under the Digital Eclipse name). Among their developments that eschew classic console emulation are the two Sonic Rivals games for PlayStation Portable.
PlatinumGames
Though they are essentially a second party for Nintendo these days, a prior years-long exclusive alliance with Sega continues to have impact. There were 5 results of this collaboration from 2009 to 2012:
MadWorld, a violent game exclusive to Wii with a unique art style
Anarchy Reigns, sequel to MadWorld exclusive to the two major 7th generation consoles (serves to exhibit PlatinumGames' shift to focus on PS3 development leading to more consistent results)
Infinite Space, a sci-fi RPG (not developmed by PlatinumGames exclusively) for Nintendo DS
Bayonetta, their most original property and first major multiplatform game (best original console edition is Xbox 360)
Vanquish, a sci-fi combat title treated as a sort of companion to Bayonetta
Of these, the Bayonetta franchise continues to reign, albeit exclusive to Nintendo consoles. Still, since Sega possesses the rights to Bayonetta this leaves their name on the title screens.
tri-Ace
Role-playing game specialists known for Star Ocean and their frequent collaborations with Square Enix (which dates all the way back to their predecessor Enix), this is one of those Japanese developers whose products too often stay in their home country. This was not the case with 2010's Resonance of Fate for both major 7th generation consoles, but it was for Phantasy Star Nova on PlayStation Vita. Resonance of Fate got a 4K remaster in 2018 which is probably the definitive edition.
Rebellion Developments
A long-lived company who has been around the block and then some, managing "B-grade" adaptations (not ports) in such disparate properties as Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six to Delta Force, 007 to Call of Duty. Part of that portfolio is a strong licensed game background among which is Alien vs. Predator, with the 2010 entry in that series being published by Sega for all 3 major HD platforms (Xbox 360, PS3 & PC). As with a few others mentioned in this post here is a company with a long history who just happened to ally with Sega for a brief instance.
Obsidian Entertainment
As is the case with this strongly-reputed RPG developer. Originally Black Isle Studios in the 90s, which saw take-off of the Fallout and Baldur's Gate series, they found their new form in the 2000s initially with follow-ups to BioWare works Neverwinter Nights and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. Then they produced their first original game under this new banner, Alpha Protocol, which Sega published.
Next Level Games & Liquid Entertainment
In companies such as these which really only have a one-off relationship with Sega, their greater context is elaborated in case that is of interest. In later years Next Level became a Nintendo subsidiary; Liquid is known for its association with Mattel's Max Steel. Their common connection to Sega came in 2011 with the publication of two separate games based on contemporary Marvel license films, both happening to support stereoscopic 3D in their editions for the two 7th generation consoles with that capability.
Gearbox Software
Believe it or not: the house of Half-Life add-ons, Borderlands & Duke Nukem had a good thing going with Sega for a while. In 2008, as they wrapped up their Brothers in Arms trilogy, they were entrusted to adapt Sonic Team's Samba de Amigo to Wii, a console very suitable to that particular gameplay formula. For Nintendo DS in 2011 and the 3 major HD platforms in 2013 (minus WiiU which had launched at that time) Gearbox produced entries in the Alien franchise which Sega held the license to back then.
Avalanche Studios
Before a minor rebranding that added Group to their name, the home of Just Cause and theHunter had a single standalone entry published by Sega between releases of their two most famous properties. The download-only Renegade Ops used Avalanche's technology, but was otherwise unrelated to anything else they made. The Steam edition features Half-Life's Gordon Freeman as an exclusive character.
High Voltage Software
A generally console-centric developer who was among the stronger supporters of the Atari Jaguar. It is clear from an examination of their catalog that their favorite 7th generations console was Nintendo Wii, to which they ported a couple of Sega's Marvel licensed games. The relationship started earlier when High Voltage was seeking a publisher for their new violent shooter The Conduit and Sega stepped in, as well as for its sequel and the poorly-received ancient themed fighter Tournament of Legends.
That's a Wrap
This is not comprehensive, but communicates the idea. In subsequent years Sega has followed the rest of the gaming industry in continuing and/or renewing existing franchises rather than offering many new ideas. They are far from alone in this regard, but Sega does count among the numerous entertainment companies who seem unable to figure out how to build on the grand legacy they created before.
That Sega is also among the many entertainment companies who have turned woke is another problem that does nothing to help the other one. Perhaps those factors are related; I am uncertain, but allowing oneself to be pressured by the need to coddle protected groups cannot be helpful to the development of imaginative talent. If this is drawn to its logical conclusion, that screen-based entertainment is dying a slow death before all our eyes, at least there is still enough history out there to satisfy many lifetimes.
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