Sega could well have pulled-off an impressive coup this week, enlisting Californian studio Entertainment create next-generation videogames for western gaming markets. Obsidian have in the past crafted Knights of the Old Republic 2, and are currently hard at work on Neverwinter Nights 2 at Bioware's bequest. The new deal will see and America working alongside Obsidian's experienced developers to craft a new RPG to feature on the PC, and PS3.

"The team at Obsidian has 'proven track record' stamped all over it," beamed Sega America boss Simon Jeffery. "When SEGA decided to create a fresh and captivating RPG franchise for new generations of hardware, we immediately knew who we wanted to work with."

Thank god for that 'proven track record', Simon. Obsidian big cheese Feargus Urquhart added his enthusiasm to the press release pie, stating: "At Obsidian, our focus is to make exceptional games and we see SEGA as a true partner in achieving that goal for our next epic RPG." Hopefully we won't have to wait too long for word of the actual game, which wasn't mentioned in today's news.

This deal is the latest in a series of arrangements Sega have been making to ensure they're amply represented in western games markets, beyond their traditional Japan-centric powerbase. More as we get it.

By Luke Guttridge