Iconic underwater adventurer Ecco the Dolphin is coming back, some 35 years since he first saved the oceans

I’ve just had some mega flashbacks. In the early 90s, as a games journo near the start of my career and working on a Mega Drive/ Genesis magazine, I remember Ecco the Dolphin arriving on a development cartridge and taking the office by storm. Then came the Mega-CD version, and somebody on my team worked out that if you put the CD in a normal CD player, you could play this unbelievably cool ambient soundtrack. I played it loads back then, and still revisit it every now and then when I need calmer times.

They have done it on porpoise

So, when I just landed on the website for the new Ecco the Dolphin reboot, and some of the music started up, I got a load of tingly memories rushing back of simpler times. Crazy.

Anyway, Ecco is back. The world is in a state, and we need our bottlenosed pal to save the oceans once more.

Seal team

Originally released in 1992, Ecco captured the hearts and minds of people who just assumed all video games were either childish or violent. Not so it seemed.

“It has been years in the making, and we’re honored to bring Ecco back,” said Ed Annunziata, Chief Creative Officer of A&R Atelier. “Ecco has always been more than a game about a dolphin, he’s a bridge between worlds.”

The website is sparse at the moment, with no screens or release information, but it does say:

The team behind Ecco the Dolphin includes original creators from the classic games, alongside talented new team members who share a deep love and respect for this iconic franchise. Together, we’re dedicated to expanding the Ecco the Dolphin IP to the level it has always deserved.

We’re currently working on new Ecco games and products that honor the spirit of the original while bringing fresh experiences to both longtime fans and new players discovering Ecco’s epic world for the first time.

The team behind the reboot is A&R Atelier, a California-based developer founded in Half Moon Bay that includes the original creators.

I really can’t wait to see more on this. That CD of haunting underwater music is coming out again the second I publish this page.

Three Bits of Ecco Trivia you probably don’t know

• The dolphin wasn’t originally going to be called “Ecco” at all — creator Ed Annunziata considered naming him Delphinus after the constellation, and Sega’s marketing even suggested “Botticelli” before settling on a play on the sonar “echo.”
• A quirky bit of lore: there is a theory that the name “ECCO” also nods to the real-world acronym Earth Coincidence Control Office (a fringe UFO theory reference). Even if it’s not, it’s an interesting old take.
• Ecco the Dolphin is infamous for its difficulty, but that wasn’t an accident — the developers deliberately avoided tutorials or hand-holding, believing players should “learn the ocean” through experimentation, which is why many ’90s kids remember it as beautiful, confusing, and quietly traumatic.