[DigitalToday reporter Jinju Hong (홍진주)] Sega has cancelled its large project "Super Game" plan, unveiled 5 years ago.

IT outlet Engadget reported on May 12 that Sega disclosed the project had been halted in its fiscal 2026 results materials.

Behind the decision is weakness in free-to-play and live-service games. Sega said related titles such as "Sonic Rumble Party" posted weak results, and it also mentioned the financial burden at Rovio, the developer of "Angry Birds". It appears the company judged it would be difficult to keep pursuing a strategy of pouring large funds into big online games.

"Super Game" was a project whose substance was unclear from the time it was announced. In 2023, Sega described it as "a concept of a game that is one step above a typical game." Earlier, it had called it a "large-scale global game." Sega did not disclose a specific genre or play style, but it was set to include online elements and use Microsoft's Azure cloud platform in development.

Sega planned to invest about $880 million in the project and had set a March 2026 release target. But the plan ended before it reached the final stage of execution. With development direction unclear and market performance also falling short of expectations, the company effectively reset its priorities.

Staff redeployment has already taken place. Sega moved more than 100 people who had been assigned to free-to-play games to other projects. The company said it is concentrating staff on developing games that users actually show interest in, and added it is now working to restart projects centered on its main IP. Titles included are "Virtua Fighter," "Golden Axe," "Streets of Rage" and "Crazy Taxi."

Sega is also putting more weight on businesses beyond games. Film was cited as the company's most notable area of recent achievement, and the follow-on lineup includes "Super Sonic 4" and "The Angry Birds Movie 3." Film adaptations of "OutRun," "Golden Axe," "Shinobi" and "Streets of Rage" are also planned.

As a result, Sega's mid- to long-term strategy is moving closer to proven intellectual property and media expansion than to large new online projects. The cancellation of Super Game is seen as more than a simple halt in development, and as a signal that Sega is reducing low-profit live-service experiments and returning to its existing strengths.