Sega embraces legal console game modding with new Genesis PC emulation hub

For decades now, the only real way to enjoy the many fan-modified versions of classic console games floating around was through the legally questionable method of downloading altered ROM files and running them through a computer emulator (legal cartridge-ripping hardware notwithstanding). Now, Sega is finally lending some official support to what has until now been a very unofficial activity, adding the ability to modify and redistribute certain classic PC-emulated Genesis titles through Valve’s Steamworks platform.

The newly announced Sega Mega Drive Classics Hub will serve as a 3D front end for emulated Sega ROMs you already own on Steam, simulating the kind of bedroom a diehard Sega fan may have had in the mid-’90s. The hub comes complete with a virtual CRT TV, graphic enhancement filters, a virtual shelf of cartridge boxes, and a day/night cycle to show you just how much time you’re wasting in front of decades-old games.

More than these cosmetic changes, though, “every single Mega Drive [read: the Japanese/European name for the Genesis] game will now feature Steam Workshop support, allowing you to share your modified versions of your favorite retro Sega titles,” as an official announcement video puts it.

As far as we know, this is the first time any retro console or console game maker has explicitly allowed for the legal distribution of modified copies of its classic titles in any form. In the past, fans that have tried to distribute mods for emulated console games were more likely to get cease and desist letters (or at best benign neglect) from rights-holders rather than any official support. In fact, many classic game makers have long vilified emulation in general as a potential piracy threat rather than as a potentially lucrative revenue stream.

There are no details yet on what modifications will be possible through Steamworks (Sega says more details will be available next week) but at the very least we can expect players will be able to edit and distribute their own new graphical tilesets, replacing the official sprites and background elements with their own (so expect a lot of “Ecco the Dong-fin” mods to flood the Steam Workshop immediately). If we’re lucky, we’ll see support for the kind of deeper ROM hacking that has allowed for everything from edited text and music to new levels and rejiggered game settings in emulated Genesis titles in the past.

Though Sega’s updated Steam emulation hub isn’t set to release until April 28, titles currently available in Steam’s Sega Genesis Classics Collection will all be freely updated with the new hub features, including Steamworks modding, on that date (even if you bought them previously). The list of supported titles is currently missing a few emulated Genesis titles that have been available individually or as part of other bundles through Steam in the past (the Sonic the Hedgehog series and Toejam and Earl are some notable omissions). So far, the announcement has only come through Sega’s UK-based PR channels, even though the same games are all available to US Steam users as well.

We hope this is the beginning of a trend and more classic game makers realize that letting fans legally play around with emulated versions of their retro catalog is just good business sense.