Sega enters into Bizarre relationship

With the next wave of gaming consoles just around the bend, Sega has been making several moves to reestablish itself as a prime player in the industry. Last week, the company announced its bread and butter, Sonic the Hedgehog, would be making the leap to next gen. Earlier this week, Petroglyph joined the ranks of Monolith, Silicon Knights, and The Creative Assembly as non-Asian developers creating games in conjunction with Sega.

Today, Sega added one more Western developer to its mix of collaborations. Bizarre Creations, best known for being behind the wheel of the Project Gotham Racing series for Microsoft's consoles, will be partnering with Sega to create a new "next-generation franchise." Sega and Bizarre have not released any information on the project, but a post on Bizarre's Web site says it will be multiplatform.

A release from Sega today reiterates that the deal is another move to expand Sega's reach into the Western market.

"We are actively seeking partnerships with the world's best developers to create brand new franchises and re-create new games from existing Sega IP," said Naoya Tsurumi, CEO of Sega America and Sega Europe. "We could not be happier that Bizarre Creations, a world-leader in successfully combining gameplay and technology, chose Sega as their publishing partner to create a multi-platform blockbuster for the next-generation."

Bizarre Creations, headquartered in Liverpool, England, is currently working on the Xbox 360 racer Project Gotham Racing 3.