In a bid to re-establish itself as a major force in the industry, SEGA have revealed an extensive three-year plan within the SEGA Sammy group's new "Road to 2020" document, which involves the revival of the company's major IPs, as well as consolidating its existing IPs.

The report notes that SEGA's profits are on a recovery trend following a a business structure reform in 2016, and further growth is expected in the next few years. As part of the company's strategy to build itself back up within the "packaged game field," SEGA plans to revive some of its "major IPs" though what these are precisely was not specify. In addition to the exhumation of some older IPs, SEGA has also made expanding existing IPs and challenging for new IPs a major focus going forward, as well as more "effective utilization of development engines." Based on the images within the "Road to 2020" document, it appears that SEGA's plans of expanding existing IPs will initially be focused on franchises like Yakuza, Total War, Football Manager, and Persona.

In terms of the company's financial performance, SEGA have had a positive year thanks to the launch of Total War: Warhammer in 2016, the recent success of Persona 5, and the continued "robust" sales for 2012's Phantasy Star Online 2. With a series of recent announcements and a number of new titles to come in the coming months, SEGA look to be continuing its positive run at least in the short-term.

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A long-awaited PC port for the 2010 sci-fi shooter Vanquish will finally be headed to Steam on May 25, but this is merely the warm-up to the release of some of SEGA's bigger IPs throughout 2017. Among the confirmed games to be launched this year is the next Total War: Warhammer title, a new Sonic the Hedgehog game titled Sonic Mania, and the long-awaited Shenmue 3, which is scheduled to be released this Winter.

Beyond the "packaged game field," SEGA also has plans for the digital market place, with major focus being directed to creating titles that will "become global hits," the expansion of its overseas publishing business, and the development of next-generation titles. Based on the "Road to 2020" document, it appears that SEGA plan on continuing its post-launch support for Phantasy Star Online 2 while also developing new titles for both consoles and mobile.

It remains to be seen how successful SEGA's "Road to 2020" plan will ultimately be, but based on the early positive results, the future is looking bright for the company and it may get even brighter once some of SEGA's old IPs are finally brought back into the fray.

Source: SEGA 1, 2