Ecco the Dolphin creator Ed Annunziata announced in an interview with Xbox Wire that remasters of Ecco the Dolphin and Ecco: The Tides of Time are on their way. Once those are complete, Annunziata and the rest of the original development team will work on a brand-new third Ecco game for modern players.
The full Xbox Wire post focused more on celebrating Asian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, and games made by Asian and Pacific Islander creators, with a short but impactful spotlight at the end where Annunziata answered a few questions.
When asked about what the future holds for Ecco, Annunziata did not mince words, saying, “Me and the entire original team are going to Remaster the original Ecco the Dolphin and Tides of Time games. Then we will make a new, third game with contemporary play and GPU sensibilities.“
Annunziata ended off by telling players to keep their eyes on eccothedolphin.com, which takes you to a landing page with a countdown that will end on April 25, 2026, at 9am PT / 12pm ET / 5pm BT. Annunziata did not elaborate further as to whether that will be when the remasters release, or if it’ll just be when we get our first look at Ecco’s upcoming return.
Earlier this year, Gematsu spotted trademark filings from SEGA for “Ecco” and “Ecco the Dolphin,” which we now know were due to the series being brought back to life, and not just your bog-standard filing to keep the trademark.
Ecco the Dolphin has inspired a number of games since its original release in 1992, with its focus on ocean conservation and marine life, and its meticulous and difficult brand of 2D side-scrolling. It’ll be interesting to see how Annunziata and the team approach a remaster, if it’ll be something akin to what Virtuos did for The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered, with a big graphical overhaul while keeping the underlying game the same, or if it’ll be more like a Nightdive Studios remaster, that keeps the original look and feel of the game intact, while adding a few quality-of-life improvements so it runs as smooth as possible on modern hardware.
If it’s the former of the two, then that will also likely inform what Annunziata means when he talks about making a third game with “contemporary play and GPU sensibilities.“
