Secret Level to "re-create" classic Sega franchise on next-gen

San Francisco based developer Secret Level has signed a new development deal with Sega, which will see the company tasked with "re-creating a classic Sega franchise" on PS3 and Xbox 360.

Secret Level is best known for creating Karaoke Revolution on the Xbox for Konami, and is currently working on America's Army: Rise of a Soldier on Xbox and PS2, as well as the Xbox version of Final Fight: Streetwise.

The franchise the company will be working on hasn't been named as yet, but there's been some speculation that it might be Sonic the Hedgehog - although there's no apparent evidence to support that theory, and it is perhaps unlikely that Sega would outsource development of its best-known character franchise.

"The talented design team at Secret Level has demonstrated innovation in game development," according to Sega of America president and COO Simon Jeffrey, "and has a history of technical achievements that will help Sega reinvigorate a vintage and highly commercial franchise."

Of all the Japanese publishers, Sega has been arguably the most bullish in its approach to next-generation development - showcasing Xbox 360 titles such as Full Auto in fully playable form at E3 earlier this year, when most other publishers were simply showing rolling demos, if anything.

The firm seems determined to improve its performance over the current generation, where it started off at a disadvantage due to its commitment to the ill-fated Dreamcast platform, and saw significant upheaval throughout the era, starting with the move out of console hardware and recently culminating in a merger with gambling machine manufacturer and game publisher Sammy.