Join SEGA/ATLUS at Anime Expo 2025 for Panels, Performances, and More!

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Are you local in the L.A. area and attending this year’s Anime Expo? Be sure to stop by the convention center and join SEGA/ATLUS with several line-up of panels and activations for fans at the Los Angeles Convention Center Show Floor from July 3-6. The panels and activations includes:

  • COLORFUL STAGE! The Movie: A Miku Who Can’t Sing Cheer Screening
  • HATSUNE MIKU: COLORFUL STAGE! Fan Meeting
  • The Official Persona5: The Phantom X Panel Featuring Lyn’s Live Performance
  • Persona Music Experience with Lyn Inaizumi
  • Like a Dragon/Yakuza Pool Party
  • SEGA/ATLUS Booth
  • Little Akihabara Pop-Up

More information on the SEGA/ATLUS AX25 lineup can be found below!

Gamescare announces a December 2025 release date for their new FPGA Genesis/32X console: the GF-1 Neptune

The Brazillian company GamesCare have announced a December 2025 release window for their hotly anticipated Genesis/32X hybrid FPGA console: the GF-1 Neptune. At the moment, pre-orders are not yet available and no price has been announced, though they have stated it will be average for consoles of this nature. Given the usual cost of most FPGA consoles, I would estimate somewhere in the ballpark of $200-300 USD, but we’ll see soon. (Expect tariffs to be an issue as well) They have also promised that crowdfunding will not be part of their plans.

This announcement was made public through GamesCare’s Twitter, along with a link to a signup page for their new email newsletter. You can sign up there to hear when more info comes out. The link will be right below the break.

Sega’s Japan exclusive Mega-Drive turn based strategy game The Hybrid Front receives a fan translation

Sega’s classic cyberpunk turn-based strategy game for Genesis/Mega-Drive, The Hybrid Front (1994), has finally been fan translated.

This translation was 7 years in the making, as the team of fans responsible, Nebulous Translations, had announced this translation back in 2018. Due to some difficulties with packing English text into the game’s visual interface, which was intrinsically designed for kanji-heavy Japanese to be written out vertically, the translation patch took a lot longer to put together in the team’s spare time. After much difficulty, a translation patch is now available for the public to download and try. The Hybrid Front and its surprisingly in depth story and dialogue for its time is now far more accessible to curious English speaking fans.

If your interested in trying it for yourself, strategize your way past the break for the download link.

Ichiban’s Holiday crossover DLC for Dave The Diver now available until 2027

 

The time limited Ichiban’s Holiday DLC for Dave the Diver, which facilitated a crossover with Like A Dragon’s Ichiban Kasuga meeting the crew at the Blue Hole in Dave the Diver, has had its timed availability extended. Originally only available from April 2025 until October 2025, it will now instead remain available for purchase on all platforms until the end of 2026. While we’d still much rather have this permanently available, It’s good to have a much larger window of opportunity to obtain the DLC to go with the game. Regardless, you will retain access to the DLC if you purchase it any time before it goes away. Ichiban’s Holiday will still set you back an extra $6.99 USD, but will occasionally go on sale, so keep it in your wishlist if you prefer to wait for a discount. (It’s already discounted on Steam, as part of the ongoing Steam Summer Sale.)

This bit of good news comes from a special video announcement for Dave the Diver’s 2nd anniversary celebration. In the video, it was stated that due to negative feedback from how quickly the DLC would be delisted, developer Mintrocket had convinced Sega and RGG Studio to allow them to keep this DLC available much longer than originally agreed upon. As an extra bit of good news, the free Godzilla DLC, which was delisted last year, is also back and available for free as before, and a sneak peek was also given at a new In The Jungle DLC expansion planned for 2026. The game and DLC are now also available on the Epic Games Store and a free Nintendo Switch 2 update is planned for the Nintendo Switch version.

You can view the video announcement right after the break below. (Turn on subtitles for RGG director Masayoshi Yokoyama’s congratulatory message to Mintrocket.)

New top-down Genesis/Mega-Drive shooter Sovietborgs now crowdfunding on Indiegogo

Developer Retro Sumus are back with an all-new action shooter coming to Genesis/Mega-Drive called Sovietborgs. Spaniard developer Retro Sumus were previously known for their amazing 3D Dreamcast shooter Xenocider, released in 2021. That game, one of the first fully 3D indie games on Dreamcast, was a visual tour-de-force and a great tribute to Space Harrier and Sin & Punishment. With Sovietborgs, they’ve set their sights not just on Genesis, but aim to bring the game to Dreamcast and even MS-DOS and Neo-Geo. Quite the ambitious project indeed, and they’ve brought Sovietborgs to IndieGogo for the funding needed to make it happen.

Sovietborgs leverages pre-rendered 3D graphics, much like Vectorman or Sonic 3D Blast, to bring you into an alternate reality in which the Soviet Union became the dominant civilization following the Cold War. You’ll be controlling three mercenaries called “Sovietborgs” all at once to wipe out all the vicious mutants in every level. The game will play like a top-down shooter, but there are in-between levels more like a horizontal scrolling shmup as well. The music is inspired by the Strike trilogy and Command & Conquer: Red Alert and composed by the same Juanjo Martin who composed the music for Xenocider.

If you’re just itching to throw money at this game’s Indiegogo and get a copy of the game in the process following its completion, then journey on down past the break and find out what to expect from this campaign.

Hasbro Announces MAGIC: THE GATHERING SECRET LAIR x SONIC THE HEDGEHOG Collaboration

Hasbro’s Wizards of the Coast and SEGA announced today a Magic: The Gathering Secret Lair x Sonic the Hedgehog collaboration featuring three distinct Secret Lair drops inspired by the Sonic universe. The collaboration takes Sonic and Magic: The Gathering fans on a lightning-fast trip to meet some of SEGA’s iconic Sonic characters, reimagined as Magic: The Gathering cards.

Each drop will be on sale in regular ($29.99) and foil ($39.99) editions available for purchase on MagicSecretLair.com starting at 9 a.m. PT on July 14, while supplies last. Check out more details on each drop below!

DC x Sonic the Hedgehog JAKKS Product Line Now Available to Preorder; Releases in Stores This Fall!

The first toy line inspired by the DC x Sonic the Hedgehog crossover event is now available to preorder. The new collection from JAKKS Pacific was developed in collaboration with Warner Bros. Discovery Global Consumer Products (WBDGCP) and SEGA of America.

Fans can pre-order the DC x Sonic the Hedgehog crossover toy line exclusively from Target.com. Check out more details and an exclusive look at the DC x Sonic the Hedgehog crossover toy line in the next section of the article!

SEGA News Bits Live: Sonic Crossover Chaos!

Batman, SpongeBob, Magic the Gathering… Sonic is crossing over with EVERYTHING! On this SEGA News Bits, Barry touches on the many collabs and crossovers, talks about leaks and shows off some upcoming SEGAbits projects!

If you want to support this type of content, you can check out our Patreon!

If you enjoy our SEGA News Bits segments and want to support us: Give us a sub and give this video a thumbs up so it shows up on more like-minded fans YouTube recommendations. You know, how that YouTube algorithm is.

Persona5: The Phantom X Now Available on PC and Mobile!

Calling All Phantom Thieves! Today, SEGA and ATLUS launched Persona5: The Phantom X on PC and mobile, inviting players into an all-new adventure set in the colorful and engrossing world of the legendary Persona series. In Persona5: The Phantom X, players will journey as a brand-new protagonist with the unique turn-based RPG gameplay and setting of Persona 5.

An original event based on Persona 5 is also now live, with Joker from Persona 5 available from a limited contract. To celebrate the launch, check out the latest Student Life trailer here, and the Phantom Thieves Life trailer here. You can also watch the Release Countdown livestream VOD here.

Full announcement details are in the press release below!

McLaren Racing and SEGA announce partnership with Sonic the Hedgehog™


Today, SEGA and McLaren Racing announced a new multi-year partnership with Sonic the Hedgehog, bringing together two globally recognized icons of speed and making SEGA the official gaming partner of McLaren Racing Limited. The partnership marks a reunion more than thirty years in the making. At the 1993 European Grand Prix, known as the Sonic Grand Prix, McLaren F1 Team driver Ayrton Senna was awarded a Sonic the Hedgehog trophy on the podium.

Fans can expect creative integrations and experiences that fuse the worlds of motorsport and gaming and engage audiences of all ages both on the grid and screen. The partnership will continue throughout Sonic Team’s 2025 “Racing Around the World” campaign into 2026 for Sonic’s 35th Anniversary and the McLaren Formula 1 Team’s 1,000th Grand Prix. SEGA will also be hosting an exciting activation at McLaren Racing Live: London, a fan-focused Trafalgar Square take-over on July 2 – 3.

Check out full details from the press release here!

SEGA Announces Nickelodeon Collaboration for Upcoming Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds

SEGA surprised everyone at the 2025 Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards with a reveal: Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds is crossing over with Nickelodeon. And yes—SpongeBob is in.

During the show, SEGA dropped a new trailer showing SpongeBob and friends hitting the track alongside Sonic and his crew. It also showed off a SpongeBob-themed vehicle and track, plus a quick tease of more Nick content on the way—including stuff from Avatar: The Last Airbender and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

If you grab the Digital Deluxe Edition of the game, you’ll get all the Nickelodeon content through the Season Pass, along with the recently announced Minecraft crossover, Sonic Prime characters, and a couple of mystery collabs still to come.

More details are on the way, but one thing’s clear: CrossWorlds is shaping up to be the wildest Sonic racer yet.

SEGA Talk #165: Toy Story (1995)

Open the toy box, because on this SEGA Talk we’re unboxing Toy Story for the SEGA Genesis! How did this multiplatform licensed game wow players in 1995? How does it compare to the movie of the same name? Is there a snake in my boot? Watch and find out on this toyetic SEGA Talk!

[iTunes – Stitcher – YouTube – Download]

Support us on Patreon! Get early access, have your memories read on the show, select the games we talk about!

Digital Eclipse head of production Stephen Frost expresses desire to work on a Saturn fighting game collection

Digital Eclipse is name that holds a spectacular reputation among fans of retro gaming. The Atari SA owned development studio has been behind some of the most highly regarded retro game collections in recent years, including Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection, Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration, and their most recently announced games Golden Tee: Arcade Classics and Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection. (Of note to Sega fans, that upcoming Mortal Kombat collection… sorry, I mean “Kollection…” will include the Genesis/Mega-Drive, Game Gear, and even 32X ports of multiple Mortal Kombat titles)

When speaking with Games Industry.biz regarding their work on Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection, Digital Eclipse head of production Stephen Frost mentioned he’d love to be able to do a collection of Sega’s fighting games on the Sega Saturn. This isn’t a confirmation that any such project is actually in development, but it is cool to hear nonetheless.

You can see his exact quote past the break here.

Remaining Sega Forever mobile games being hit with End-of-Service announcements UPDATE: Annnnnnnd they’re gone

Recorded from the Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode II mobile app

The final nail in Sega Forever’s coffin has just been pounded in. The once-promising initiative out of Sega Europe to bring classic Sega games back on mobile devices as free, ad-supported games had already been quietly discontinued years ago and several games were delisted and left with their online services disabled in 2023. Now, most of the remaining games are meeting the same fate.

Like before, this comes without any official announcement from Sega outside of this end-of-service notice popping up within the affected games, along with a link directly to Sega’s website. Each of the games will remain playable offline and tied to your Google Play or Apple account if you had previously downloaded them, but they will no longer be updated, so it’s only a matter of time until they do become unplayable as Sega will no longer make sure they keep up with ongoing Android or iOS updates. This has actually already happened with each of the games that were delisted the last time since we reported on it two years ago. The topical games here are still available on the Google Play Store and Apple App Store as of this writing, so you may as well download the remaining games if you haven’t already and enjoy them while you can. As part of this update, all online features will be shut down, which amounted to leaderboards and, for the Genesis/Mega-Drive games, save-states saved onto the cloud. Local save data will remain accessible. The option to pay $2 USD to disable ads, which will now be disabled anyway, is also gone.

Check past the break for a list of the affected titles.