A new ‘Ecco the Dolphin’ game and remasters are on the way

Ecco the Dolphin, the Sega-published game series starring a time-traveling bottlenose dolphin, is making a comeback, according to a new interview in Xbox Wire. The series’ creator Ed Annunziata says that both Ecco the Dolphin and Ecco: The Tides of Time are being remastered, and a third game is in the works.

“Me and the entire original team are going to remaster the original Ecco the Dolphin and Tides of Time games,” Annunziata says. “Then we will make a new, third game with contemporary play and GPU sensibilities.” Ecco the Dolphin was featured alongside games like Tchia and Coral Island for Xbox’s celebration of Asian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month and games that draw “inspiration from API cultures.” For its part, Ecco the Dolphin is about a porpoise, but Annunziata says his goal was always to “create a game that sparked curiosity and respect for the ocean.”

Annunziata tried to get a spiritual successor to Ecco funded on Kickstarter in 2013, but failed to raise enough money to get the project off the ground. He sued Sega for the rights to the original franchise that same year, and ultimately settled with the publisher in 2016, GamesBeat reports. The settlement might be why remasters and a new game can happen in the first place.

While it’s considered a classic for its difficult gameplay and iconic soundtrack, Ecco the Dolphin hasn’t been particularly easy to play legally if you don’t already own it. The game was one of several Sega titles that were delisted from digital storefronts in December 2024.

Annunziata didn’t share further details about either project in the interview, but did point readers to an Ecco the Dolphin website, which currently has a countdown timer that’s set to end on April 25, 2026.