Sega and Secret Level Join Forces

That's right, they're both joining the army!!! Nah, just kidding. On July 6th, 2005, Sega announced a partnership with Secret Level, a San Fransisco-based development studio. This partnership is to recreate a classic Sega franchise for the PS3 and Xbox 360 (sorry Nintendo!). Which franchise though is still unkown, but it will most likely be the famous Sonic the Hedgehog series. Sega will manage all sales, marketing, and distribution and work with Secret Level (who are best know for the making of Magic:The Gathering Battlegrounds, the Unreal Engine for the Playstation 2 and Gamecube, along with other stuff) to supervise game development. Simon Jeffery (President and COO of Sega of America) says that "Sega will become a leading publisher on the next generation of console hardware by marketing great Western-developed content that includes properties from a rich portfolio of Sega games." He also says "The talented design team at Secret Level has demonstrated innovation in game development and has a history of technical achievements that will help SEGA reinvigorate a vintage and highly commercial franchise." This partnership isn't the only one that Sega has made recently. Other recent ones include developer Silicon Knights, Monolith Productions, Sports Interactive, SUMO, Psuedo Interactive, and the acquisition of The Creative Assembly. This really shows that Sega is REALLY focusing on Western Development. Too bad that nethier of the companies have'nt announced product, platform, or release details right now.