Sega has just announced Project Sekai, a mobile Hatsune Miku rhythm game that is currently being developed by the company in partnership with Craft Egg Inc., the creators of Bang Dream! Girls Band Party.
Hatsune Miku is a Vocaloid first developed by Crypton Future Media on August 31st of 2007. Upon release, the voicebank associated with her likeness was completed in both Japanese and English, with a Chinese version of the software being released later. within just a few months, sales of the Hatsune Miku software would total $540,615, making it the number one selling Vocaloid software at the time. As a result of her immense popularity, Crypton Future Media would begin licensing her likeness to be used in various products from figurines, automobile wraps, clothing, and cell phone accessories. Eventually, branding for Miku would go even further, as the developer would secure commercial contracts with industry leaders and even go as far as to hold its own concerts featuring her.
Since her release, Hatsune Miku has been mentioned in various television and animated series, and spawned countless rhythm games that feature both her and other Vocaloids developed by the company. As for the software's original purpose, Crypton Media states on its website that Miku's voice has been used in over 100,000 unique songs. Now, after earning the company more than $100 million, Hatsune Miku will make her way to another mobile rhythm game currently in development by Sega and Craft Egg Inc.
It's pretty amazing to think that a simple computerized voice software could spawn such fanfare, but it mostly boils down to Crypton Media's ability to market the character. If the popularity of Vocaloids continues to rise around the world, we could soon see an era where most major companies have a Vocaloid of their own as a representative.
While exact details related to the new game are scarce, some information on it can be found on Gematsu, where it is revealed that Sega games have partnered with Craft Egg's new studio, Colorful Palette Co. Ltd, to develop the game. The new mobile rhythm game, currently titled "Project Sekai," features Miku alongside a yet to be announced female character. Additionally, Sega released a small teaser trailer announcing that the game is in development, though Gematsu states that fans have the best chance of getting up to date information on the project by following their official Twitter account. The trailer has currently been viewed over 63,000 times in just thirteen hours, indicating that the new game could do very well.
Though it would have been nice to get more details on the game, Sega's decision to keep things under wraps could help to garner more interest in the game upon its release. The fact that the company went to the trouble of showcasing a hidden character is also a good marketing move, as it will get fan communities talking about the game for months.
With mobile games on the rise, this new release isn't all that surprising. If this next Hatsune Miku game does well, we could see many more titles being released for mobile in the future.