Sonic Forces, Yakuza Kiwami 2 Perform Well For Sega

Last year was a pretty strong one for Sega, and more particularly Sonic the Hedgehog.

After years away from the gaming scene following the release of the abysmal Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric, the hero came racing back in 2017 with not one but two games – the retro-fied platforming game Sonic Mania and the spiritual Sonic Generations follow-up Sonic Forces. And it appears that those did very well for Sega.

The company reported their entertainment contents business for the year, noting that it has made 157.9 billion yen in sales for 2017, with the Sonic titles leading the way. That's an increase in both sales and profit for the year, indicating that Sega might be sticking by the Hedgehog with new adventures – like the one they'll introduce at SXSW next month.

While sales numbers for Mania weren't given, that game thrived based upon word of mouth and positive reviews, since many considered it the Sonic throwback they've been waiting for. But while Sonic Forces wasn't as well received, Sega did make note that the game "performed strongly," even though it didn't give specific sales numbers. That means that a sequel could be in consideration down the road, though nothing has been confirmed just yet.

But that's not the only game that performed up to par for the publisher. The company also noted that Yakuza Kiwami 2 did reasonably well with its launch in Japan last December, although there's still no word on U.S. release. More than likely, Sega is waiting to see how Yakuza 6: The Song of Life performs with its release next month before moving forward. But there's no question the series has a high amount of devotees, so don't be surprised if a port of Kiwami 2 is eventually announced sometime this year.

Overall, Sega had a pretty killer year, and hopefully it will capitalize in 2018, as it's already talked about bringing several of its classic franchises back, and there's been word circulating about a follow-up to Sonic & All Stars Racing Transformed, the company's iconic cart-racing game. We'll see what gets announced next month.

Yakuza Kiwami 2 is available now for PlayStation 4 in Japan, and Sonic Forces is available now here for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch and PC.