More than 25 years after Sega discontinued the Dreamcast in March 2001, independent developers are still creating brand-new games for the console, keeping its ecosystem alive long after its manufacturer walked away. This matters as a rare example of gaming preservation driven almost entirely by fans and hobbyists, made possible because Sega built the console without tying critical functions to systems it could later shut down remotely.

The latest example is White Creek, a survival-horror game announced on Kickstarter in June 2026 by developer Story Bird Studios and publisher PixelHeart, in which an exorcist investigates a haunted town using psychic powers, firearms and a phone; though also headed to Steam, it is being built specifically to exploit the Dreamcast's hardware. The console, launched in Japan in 1998, was notable as the first with a built-in modem and online play, and introduced titles such as Sonic Adventure, Shenmue and Phantasy Star Online before Sega abandoned consoles altogether following the PS2's success. Its GD-ROM format was easily bypassed to run standard CDs, enabling a thriving homebrew scene supported by publishers such as PixelHeart and JoshProd, plus fan sites like The Dreamcast Junkyard and an active Reddit community.