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 last December, sparking rumors of a revival for the franchise which has been dormant for 24 years. The news surfaced today after the trademarks were filed on December 27th, 2024.
First released in 1992 by the Hungarian game development studio Appaloosa Interactive (formerly known as Novotrade International) and published by Sega, Ecco the Dolphin follows the adventures of the titular Ecco, a bottlenose dolphin who battles extraterrestrial alien threats to prevent them from taking over the planet. The series saw four installments up until the year 2000. A sequel to Ecco the Dolphin: Defender of the Future, titled Ecco II: Sentinels of the Universe, was in the works but was ultimately canceled following the decline and eventual discontinuation of the Sega Dreamcast.
Today, Sega stands as a renowned game developer and publisher, whereas Appaloosa Interactive became defunct in the mid-2000s. However, many of its former staff members continue to contribute to the video game industry. Notably, Ecco the Dolphin's creator, Ed Annunziata, released a game called Space War Arena in 2019 and remains hopeful for an Ecco sequel, as he mentioned in a 2019 interview with NintendoLife, stating, "One thing I can say is in the future, people are playing this game. I never give up!"
As of now, there have been no further concrete developments regarding the future of Ecco the Dolphin. Stay tuned for more updates. This could potentially add Ecco to the growing list of IPs that Sega is actively working on. Over the past two years, Sega has announced numerous projects, reviving classic franchises such as Crazy Taxi, Jet Set Radio, Golden Axe, Shinobi, and Virtua Fighter, while also developing new IPs like the mysterious Project Century and a new "RPG-like" Virtua Fighter.
