Japanese publishing giant Sega has established a new "development base" in Sapporo.

The firm has set up the outfit – dubbed Sega Sapporo – in Japan's Hokkaido region. Up until now, all of Sega's studios in the country were at its Tokyo headquarters.

Sega Sapporo is being headed up by Takaya Segawa, who has worked at the company since 1992 and has contributed to the likes of Phantasy Star Online 2. This new venture is going to be working on “development, design, debugging, sales, import and export of game hardware and software,” as well as “planning, production and sales of character products".

“Under the policy of continuing to take on the challenge of creating even more innovative content and providing the world with new and exciting experiences, we will use the know-how that Sega has accumulated over its long history to participate in the development of entertainment that we will present to the world from the attractive city of Sapporo,” Segawa said in a statement.

“Sega Sapporo Studio will strive to provide a moving experience to customers, and to create a studio that values its staff.”