Sega Networks acquires and invests in more Mobile studios

If any hopes were still smoldering that Sega’s new focus on the Western market with PC and mobile games was an elaborate smokescreen to hide a stunning return to form of wild Japanese creation, I’ve got a bucket of water for you.

Sega Networks, the mobile division of the ramshackle organization that is Sega proper, has announced some major acquisitions and investments today. Demiurge Studios, the team that most recently created Marvel Puzzle Quest is now wholly owned by Sega. The division has also established a majority share in San Francisco’s indie startup, Ignited Artists, and made a “strategic investment” in the UK studio, Space Ape Games.

Naturally, all three groups are mobile focused and while that isn’t my favorite platform to play games on, I’m willing to give this new effort from Sega a chance. There’s plenty of talent in the three studios and maybe (just maybe) they can take some old Sega IP and breathe new life into it. Failing that, maybe their Free-to-Play, microtransaction-filled castle defense games will bankroll a Sega product I’d be interested in. Say, a reboot of Doctor Robotnik where you’re capturing cute animals and turning them into Badniks.