Last December, Sega filed trademarks for the long-dormant IP, Ecco the Dolphin. Read on to find out what this may mean for the franchise!
Sega Revives Ecco IP With Trademark
Ecco The Dolphin Returns
As reported by Gematsu, Sega filed trademarks for Ecco and Ecco the Dolphin late December last year, fueling rumors that the IP might get a revival after being dormant for 24 years. The news was made public today after being filed back on December 27th, 2024.
First released back in 1992 under Hungarian game development studio Appaloosa Interactive (previously known as Novotrade International) and published by Sega, Ecco the Dolphin follows the titular Ecco, a bottlenose dolphin who battles extraterrestrial alien threats and prevents them from taking over the planet. It was followed by four installments up until the year 2000. There was supposedly a sequel to the 2000 title, Ecco the Dolphin: Defender of the Future, called Ecco II: Sentinels of the Universe, but the project was scrapped after the Sega Dreamcast began to decline and overall cancellation of the console’s production.
At present, Sega is a well-known game developer and publisher, while Appaloosa Interactive became defunct in the mid 2000s. However, its staff is still active within the video game industry, like Ecco the Dolphin’s creator, Ed Annunziata who released a game called Space War Arena back in 2019. In fact, he is still hoping for an Ecco sequel some time in the future, as noted in an interview with NintendoLife in 2019, saying that "One thing I can say is in the future, people are playing this game. I never give up!"
As of writing, there have been no other concrete developments about the future of Ecco the Dolphin, so stay tuned for more updates. Regardless, it may soon be added onto the long list of IPs being worked on by Sega. In the past two years, it announced an amazing number of projects under its wing, many of which are classic franchises, like Crazy Taxi, Jet Set Radio, Golden Axe, Shinobi, and Virtua Fighter. It is also developing new IPs such as the mysterious Project Century and the new "RPG-like" Virtua Fighter.
Source:
Trademark of Ecco the Dolphin
Trademark of Ecco
Gematsu Official X (Twitter)
