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What Are Sega Up To De-Listing All Their Titles?
A new streaming service may be afoot — A brand that stretches back decades, the videogaming giant Sega need no introduction. Humbled at the failure of their innovative Dreamcast console at the turn of the century, they quickly pivoted to 3rd party publishing and have reaped the benefits ever since. With a back catalogue going back to the Eighties, they have been careful to exploit nostalgia for their software and have released hundreds of titles across many different platforms. It was unbelievable at the time, but you can now play Sonic the Hedgehog on a Nintendo console.
Recently however something is afoot. From nowhere, Sega has been pulling lots of its games from digital storefronts. Normally when a title leaves a store it is due to expired licencing rights yet these are some of Sega’s core intellectual property which has no restrictions. Perhaps connected if also Sega joining Nintendo in its war on emulation, a legally grey area Sega have been happy to ignore for decades. If a company suddenly starts hoarding its IP so it becomes the only gatekeeper and suddenly gives two hoots about ‘free’ access via piracy then it normally means one thing: streaming subscriptions are coming.
Just as it shook up the world of video and music, streaming to many people looks like the future of gaming. Whilst standalone platforms such as Google Stadia…
