Founded as Sega AM9, United Game Artists was a development studio headed by Tetsuya Mizuguchi. Their mission statement was a focus on creating music-based games that sought to give the player a sense of synaesthesia from the combination of input, visuals and sound. Though the studio was short-lived (approximately four years), their three games-- Rez, Space Channel 5, and its sequel--were critical darlings that have developed large followings in spite of their poor sales, import-only status and/or low print runs, and are often considered influential for their focus on the "experience" over the individual mechanics.
After Sega merged with Sammy Corporation in 2003, UGA was folded into Sonic Team as part of Sega's post-merger studio restructure. During this time, the UGA team stayed together and worked on DS launch title Feel the Magic: XY/XX and the Sonic hoverboard racing spin-off Sonic Riders; unsurprisingly, both games feature Space Channel 5's leading lady Ulala as a result. Unfortunately, the UGA team no longer exists as the remaining members have been spread across Sonic Team and its various projects.
Tetsuya Mizuguchi, however, did not make the move to Sonic Team and left Sega shortly after the Sega-Sammy merger. He would go on to form Q Entertainment and pick up where UGA had left off...
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