Sega and Creative Assembly are temporarily pulling Total War: Shogun 2 – Complete Edition from sale. This comes after the backlash we covered yesterday with players heavily criticizing the release and reporting various issues with the updated version. Sega says it has seen the feedback, comments and reviews and agrees that the current experience “is not where it needs to be.” The Complete Edition will be removed from sale while the issues are investigated, and the original game will be reinstated. Existing owners will still be able to play.

Sega has responded to the chaotic launch of the official Sonic Discord after more than 30,000 fans joined at once, causing spam, inappropriate posts and some moderation issues. Aaron Webber from Sega admitted the launch was “pretty wild”, but said the worst moments being shared online were mostly “cherry-picked screens of bad actors” who were quickly banned. He also admitted Sega’s automatic moderation was “very strict right now. (Probably too strict!)”, which caused some innocent users to get banned by mistake. Those bans are now being reviewed and reversed. According to Webber, things eventually became “fairly wholesome” after the initial chaos.

Sega is releasing a porcelain Sonic statue for the series’ 35th anniversary. The piece is called Infinite Blue. Porcelain brand YOYOYO is selling 50 of them in Japan from October 9, at ¥1 million each (about $6,300). Sega and YOYOYO say the blue comes from gosu, a cobalt pigment that does not fade. The work is split between two kilns from Arita, the birthplace of Japanese porcelain. Five go first-come at a Tokyo pop-up. The rest are a lottery, and the store ships internationally. Still… $6,300 for a porcelain Sonic is a lot of rings.

Sega put Snoop Dogg, Ado, Tupac, and Bunta Sugawara in the same Stranger Than Heaven cast page. Yu Shirota is still Makoto Daito. Snoop is Orpheus, the smuggler who finds him on the ship. Ado is Osaka singer Keiko Shirai. Tupac is Amaru. Bunta’s face is Genzo Iwaki, voiced by Takashi Ukaji after the family signed off and Toei sent the old footage. New screenshots went up with the profiles. Dean Fujioka, Tori Kelly, and Snoop’s son Cordell Broadus are in there too. Snoop’s line: “Taking what’s meant to be where it’s meant to be. That’s our motto.” January 15, 2027. PS5, Xbox, PC. Game Pass.

Sega putting Bayonetta in Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds as a free Year Two racer is the tell. Official post: Butterfly Witch machine, emotes, and sounds. Godzilla and Evangelion stay in the paid packs. The free slot keeps going to Sega’s own icons. Amigo closed Year One. Bayonetta opens Year Two. This is not guest DLC anymore. CrossWorlds is Sega’s crossover channel. The karts are just the delivery system.

SEGA says it’s seeing more fans who love its games and characters without actually playing the games, SEGA President explained that this is becoming more common across the company’s IPs, with Like a Dragon being a good example. A lot of these fans discover the series with YouTube videos or watching people stream the games and not playing them, SEGA still considers these people fans, and even “gamers.” Utsumi says their engagement with an IP can sometimes be even higher than that of people who actually play the games. Like a Dragon merchandise is also doing very well, with around 60–70% of customers being women. This is exactly why SEGA is pushing its transmedia strategy, expanding its franchises beyond games through merchandise, movies, events and other media.

SEGA Japanese announcement page has confirmed that Persona 6 will have a physical release, but only on PS5. The official Persona 6 listing names Xbox Series X|S, Windows, PS5 and Steam as platforms, but includes a footnote stating: “Only physical copies of the PlayStation®5 version are available.” PS5-only is from Sega Japan, and reflects standard Japan market practice, not on western markets

SEGA has cancelled its “Super Game” initiative, first announced in 2021. The ambitious plan called for new AAA live-service online titles backed by an $800 million budget and a Microsoft Azure partnership. >The project was officially dropped with no additional costs incurred. >SEGA is shifting away from free-to-play live-service games toward premium full games and revivals of established IPs. >Several previously announced remakes and updates remain on track, including Jet Set Radio, Crazy Taxi, Persona 4 Revival, Stranger Than Heaven, and Total War: Medieval III.