Will it stick this time?
[Update: Kenji Hiruta finds the overwhelming support for Skies of Arcadia “impressive,” and vows to “organize all [the] comments and submit [them] to Sega directly.” Who knows if anything will happen here, but it’s something!]
At one point, Skies of Arcadia was my favorite game of all time. It lives in my memory constantly, despite the fact that it was essentially laid to rest on the Dreamcast and GameCube, but talk of a revival or re-release pops up every so often and I’m always here for it.
Dating as far back as 2008, Sega has been including Arcadia characters and environments in various games, from Senjou no Valkyria to a full course in Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed. In 2012, Sega renewed the trademark for the series, but nothing materialized. Last year, producer Rieko Kodama opined about how much she loved the game, and how it was a “childhood dream come true.”
There’s clearly a lot of love for Skies of Arcadia both within Sega and the general gaming fandom, but nothing has happened yet. Adding fuel to the fire, developer Kenji Hiruta, who proudly worked on the game, said that he “strongly” wants to develop a sequel this week. He’s even running a giveaway involving Itsuki Hoshi (the game’s original illustrator), where if you retweet him here, he’ll send a signed picture to a fan.
Hiruta believes that this will get a sequel on Sega’s radar “if the movement expands.” While many people have tried for the past decade and change, it couldn’t hurt to try again.
Kenji Hiruta [Twitter]
