The @Genki_JPN account has leaked a piece of artwork that teases what Beat and Gum will look like in Sega’s upcoming reboot of Jet Set Radio. According to SEGAbits.com, which claims to have seen it as early as July 2022 (but declined to share it at the time to protect the identity of the leaker), the image stems from a survey that Sega sent out to get feedback on some of the art styles that it was experimenting with for the new Jet Set Radio game. The Jet Set Radio franchise hasn’t received a new installment since 2002’s Jet Set Radio Future for Xbox, and while a PC version of the original has since been released, Bloomberg reported last year that Sega was developing big-budget reboots of Crazy Taxi and Jet Set Radio as part of its “Super” game initiative for titles that could deliver recurring revenue and create online communities.
From a Bloomberg report (alternate link):
The two titles would be the first entries in Sega’s Super Game initiative, which the company announced a year ago as an effort to develop recurring revenue sources and build online communities around its software portfolio. Fortnite has become the role model for such games: free to play, it’s available across platforms, hosts large multiplayer contests and includes extras like vehicles, construction and social events on top of the usual combat, spurring player purchases of in-game items.
The new Crazy Taxi has already been in development for over a year and the Tokyo-based entertainment group aims to release it within two to three years, the people said, asking not to be named as the information is not yet public. It was named alongside Jet Set Radio in Sega’s annual report a year ago on a list of intellectual property assets that Sega wanted to recapitalize by bringing them up to date. Both new games are in the early stages of creation and could still be canceled, the people said.
Okay here’s the Jet Set Radio image we have of the different styles, but blurred to obscure the watermark. pic.twitter.com/bDz6BE5nEa
— SEGAbits.com (@SEGAbits) April 9, 2023