Sega Might Be Launching a Subscription Service

These days, there’s a subscription for just about anything from socks to coffee to, of course, video games. Services like Xbox Game Pass, Nintendo Switch Online, and PlayStation Plus offer vast libraries of games that players can stream for one monthly fee, as opposed to buying each title individually. While many existing models include games from various publishers, Sega has reportedly been considering breaking away from the pack to create their own subscription service.

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Once upon a time, Netflix was the primary streaming service for watching movies and TV, but over the years many companies have created their own competitors. It’s to the point where bundles like Hulu/Disney Plus and more feel like the return of cable packages. As gaming services move towards subscription-based models, players may have to start dividing up those monthly fees depending on which publishers have their favorite games.

Best known as the home of Sonic the Hedgehog and Mortal Kombat, Sega has a vast library of beloved retro games that many players love to revisit. However, the studio has lost a bit of ground in recent years, leading to layoffs and a delay in the upcoming Football Manager 2025 title. These setbacks may be part of the reasoning behind pursuing its own proprietary streaming service, where it could try to get bring Sonic fans who want to play the games and watch the movies.

The rumor about a potential Sega streaming service comes from a comment the president made in an interview with BBC, where he mentioned they were looking into the option. Undoubtedly, many publishers have at least considered what it might look like to launch a subscription for their games. In a difficult time for the gaming industry, it makes sense to wonder whether hosting games under a publisher’s own umbrella might get them a larger slice of the game streaming pie than working with Game Pass and the like.

Gamers Not Thrilled with Publisher-Specific Subscriptions

In fact, some publishers already have their own subscriptions. EA Play is an Electronic Arts subscription that offers unlimited access to a catalog of top EA titles, including the opportunity to test out new games early. Ubisoft offers a similar service called Ubisoft+. However, unless someone is a massive fan of a particular publisher, these subscriptions simply don’t have the pull of models that include a wider variety of titles.

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Beyond the fact that it’s one idea being considered, there aren’t any details about what a Sega streaming model might look like. This makes fans a bit uneasy, as few gamers have the budget to opt in for dozens of gaming subscriptions just to access their favorite games. If every publisher branches out in the way different TV networks have done, gamers will be faced with yet another set of subscriptions to juggle based upon current interests.

“Sega has a bunch of my all time favorite franchises, but there’s no chance I’d pay for a subscription like this,” says one gamer. They go on to point out that services like Game Pass offer hundreds of titles from various publishers and genres, a more worthwhile investment than shelling out money for a limited catalog.

Others simply have questions about what this model would look like. Sega recently removed several older titles from consoles and Steam, leading some to speculate that the service might be similar to Nintendo Switch Online, which lets players enjoy retro titles for a monthly fee. Or, it could be more similar to Ubisoft+ and EA Play, offering a combination of older titles and a discount on newly released games.

For many, the move towards individual publisher subscriptions isn’t necessarily something they’d welcome, but a move that feels inevitable in the current media landscape. Whether Sega actually decides to head in this direction or not remains to be seen, but thus far, it seems many fans aren’t likely to opt in if they do.