Sega Opens New Studio Headed By Phantasy Star Online 2 Producer

Sega officially announced the establishment of a new studio based in Sapporo, led by Phantasy Star Online 2 producer Takaya Segawa.

2021 was an eventful year for Sega as one of the biggest names in the gaming world. Between the release of the highly-anticipated Yakuza spinoff Lost Judgment and the long-awaited announcement of the next entry in the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise, Sega was very busy throughout last year. One of Sega’s premier online experiences in Phantasy Star Online 2 also received a massive update in 2021 and it was recently announced that the popular online RPG’s chief producer would be taking up a new role within Sega.

The worldwide release of Phantasy Star Online 2 was a major event when the game finally released globally in 2020. Despite its arrival to the West coming just two years ago, the online science-fiction RPG has been successful in Japan for several years with Phantasy Star Online 2 celebrate its tenth anniversary in Japan this year. The game had exceeded 3.5 million users only a year after its 2012 Japan-only release and even received an anime adaptation in 2016. Now, Sega recently announced that PSO2 chief producer Takaya Segawa will be heading the company’s newest studio in Sapporo, Japan.

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A Tuesday press release from Sega announced the establishment of the developer’s newest studio localized in Sapporo City and announced the Phantasy Star Online 2 producer as the leading man for the newest studio. The studio’s intentions are stated to “ensure a high-quality and stable development pipeline” implying that Sega’s newest studio will be developing games in-house, as well as debugging for other games developed by the company.

Segawa’s newest position with Sega comes on the 30th anniversary of the producer first joining Sega in 1992. Segawa first joined Sega as a designer and has worked on a variety of franchises throughout his three decades with the developer, working on titles like Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine and Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games before being named producer for Phantasy Star Online 2. Sega Sapporo’s official website features many of Sega’s biggest modern franchises with the employment section prominently featuring Phantasy Star Online 2, implying development of the game may shift to the new studio.

2022 is shaping up to be another big year for Sega as the gaming titan and its subsidiaries have several major titles on the horizon for the coming year. The recently announced Sonic Frontiers is expected for 2022 and Relic Entertainment is currently developing the newest entry in the long-running Company of Heroes franchise with a scheduled release for later this year. The addition of the Sapporo studio to Sega’s roster will help to bolster the already massive conglomerate moving into this year.

Phantasy Star Online 2: New Genesis is available now for PC and Xbox One.

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