Lawsuit settlement could open the door to Ecco the Dolphin reboot

16bit hit Ecco the Dolphin could be in line for a reappearance.

VentureBeat reports that original Ecco creator Ed Annunziata has settled a lawsuit with Sega regarding the ownership of the franchise, which he originally filed after a failed attempt to Kickstart a spiritual successor called The Big Blue.

That project raised just $56k of its $665k goal in 2013.

The specifics of the settlement are unknown, but it seems as if Annunziata now has the green light to try again with the project, this time with the Ecco name attached.

Ecco the Dolphin was originally released on Mega Drive in 1992, although it has cropped up on other formats and even made a reappearance on iOS and 3DS in recent years. It was followed by less well known sequels Ecco II: The Tides of Time, Ecco Jr and Ecco the Dolphin: Defender of the Future.

The underwater genre is surprisingly crowded these days, with the likes of Abzu, FarSky, Subnautica, Depth, Stranded Deep and Song of the Deep already enjoying market success.