Sega has announced they’ve launched Sega Sapporo Studio, their “second development base” focused on aiding their core teams in their Shinagawa, Tokyo headquarters.

As noted in the corporate announcement, Sega Sapporo Studio was established as of December 1st, 2021, and will handle its own software development and debugging operations. The studio is led by company president Takaya Segawa, who joined SEGA way back in 1992 and has worked on numerous titles at the company.

SEGA has established the new SEGA Sapporo Studio to secure a high-quality and stable development line. At the new studio, locally hired employees will be primarily responsible for designing and programming their new game software, as well as debugging to check the quality of the games.

As the new studio is located in a different city, Sega notes employees that have moved to the new studio have had to relocate and new employees will have to relocate as well. While they hope to field new talent from Sapporo, they noted potential hires can make a U-turn (when staff want to return to their native prefecture) or an I-turn (when they move somewhere else after working in their native prefecture).

Interestingly, new job listings for the Sapporo Studio confirm that at least one of their teams will be focused entirely on making new characters and regions for Phantasy Star Online 2 New Genesis, as Sega is continuing to support the MMORPG. Phantasy Star Online 2 has been available for a number of platforms but most recently Windows PC and Xbox One.