Yoko Taro is making a game where Sega and its games are the villains

The inner machinations of Yoko Taro’s mind are an enigma that very few people in the video games industry can ever fully grasp. That has never been more true than now, as the creator of Nier prepares to launch a new mobile game where Sega and some of the company’s iconic characters are the villains.

404 Game Re:set will not only turn “everything upside down,” but is running on the core concept of being a world “by Sega, for Sega” while turning some of the company’s characters into “a Cast of beauties.”

“Cast” here is used as a descriptor for these characters, who will all be female representations of IP or characters from Sega’s historical catalog of games. This will include representatives from series like Out Run, After Burner, Virtua Fighter, and Virtua Cop—all with full voice acting and new designs from Japanese illustrator Yuugen. More characters have also been confirmed to be revealed at a later date too.

Taro is serving as the game’s creative director and calls the game a “distorted world where Sega reigns at the top of the world and controls everything.” The early promotional material for the game refers to that as the Sega State, the controlling force in the game’s world that is trying to deceive people and hide the truth. 

“It’s a game that features Sega’s IP, so I thought Sega should be in the game, but I didn’t think Sega would want to see a game that portrayed it well, so I portrayed it negatively,” Taro said in a trailer, as translated by VGC. “It’s a world that imagines that if things were to go well for Sega but then got out of control, it could end up like this.”

The mobile title is set to launch for Android and iOS at some point later this year in Japan, but there aren’t many details about what the game is actually going to be. As of now, the only reference for gameplay we have is the term “gacha gems” being used on the pre-register pages for the game and a few images. 

This likely means 404 Game Re:set will be a game about collecting the various Sega-themed girls via gacha mechanics and then using them to battle back against the corrupt game developer through RPG and social gameplay. 

It is unclear if 404 Game Re:set will make its way to platforms outside of Japan, but with how popular Taro’s projects have been and the unique—if odd—concept of the game, there should be at least some interest in seeing how the story unfolds.