Credit where it's due, while their back catalog still has a ton of games that they could port to PC, I feel that in the 2020s there's been an increase of simultaneous console/PC SEGA releases, even if some projects like Judgment still skipped PC.
Sorry, but I really don't feel any need to give "credit" to a company like SEGA for releasing some (far from all) of their games on PC day and date with consoles.
It's 2022. If a 2 person indie company can do it, if AA studios and publishers can do it, are we seriously giving "props" to SEGA, a company that has far more resources and staff than most companies around, for doing something that is current practice and common sense for pretty much everyone?
Especially after years and years of giving the same old speech about PC ports, with barely any results to show.
Or releasing sequels or spin-offs of certain games on consoles (skipping PC), after a PC re-release of another entry was highly successful.
And don't get me started on their "retro" titles like Mega Drive/Genesis games/Roms on Steam.
Again, it's been 10 years since they last released any titles, and the emulator provided is beyond poor.
Meanwhile, countless new games see release on the Switch and Nintendo's online services, and they even get M2 to handle some of their re-releases and compilations, while PC gets... nothing.
But, I guess PC users don't care about retro games and emulation, so it makes sense for SEGA to place their efforts exclusively on consoles, right?
Surely, if there was any money to be made on PC with these retro titles, they would release at least a handful of Roms (which takes them barely any work to do so) every now and then, right?
Right...
Nearly 20 years on from its discontinuation, the Mega Drive is making money again. - MCV/DEVELOP
www.mcvuk.com
«Nearly 20 years on from its discontinuation, the Mega Drive is making money again.
Sega last month
released a new retro hub for its Mega Drive library on Steam for PC. Among the new features was mod support, opening up the library to the enthusiastic PC modding community. And it turns out that move was just as smart as it appeared.
350,000 Mega Drive games have now been purchased worldwide on Steam since the hub went live on April 28th. Sega adds that hundreds” of custom ROMs have been uploaded in this time.
We’re really chuffed that the fans have got behind this update,” Sega Europe’s director of digital distribution James Schall said.
350,000 sales is a phenomenal achievement for content which is over 20 years old! It shows that there’s still a huge following out for the Sega Mega Drive and Genesis, reinvigorated by the fantastic community of modders out there uploading great content.”»
I could post plenty of examples like the one above, but in several occasions, SEGA boasted about the sales of their Mega Drive/Genesis Roms on Steam, and promised further support and titles.
The result: nothing happened. The news post I quoted above is from 2016. They had 350.000 Rom sales of their titles in about 2 weeks.
Continuing with retro games, they even took titles like After Burner Climax, an extremely fun game that they released on arcades and consoles, and instead of porting it to PC, back in 2019 they re-released it on... mobile.
Earlier today, I saw several users "complaining" about the lack of effort from Square Enix on their PC ports, saying they are treated as a clear afterthought, and that feedback is fully deserved.
With SEGA, I don't understand why they seem to get a pass on most things they do. They release one 10-15 old title, and suddenly everyone acts like they are a company whose PC support (for Japanese titles) is extraordinary. I really don't get it.