Shinobi: Art of Vengeance will pit Joe Musashi against Dr. Eggman

The Sega Villains Stage will feature Dr. Eggman and other Sega antagonists when it arrives as post-launch DLC in early 2026.

At the end of this month, developer Lizardcube and Sega are set to release Shinobi: Art of Vengeance, ushering a stylish return of the series in 2D side-scrolling style. The developers have plans for after launch, too, however. Sega and Lizardcube revealed that in 2026, Art of Vengeance will be getting a Sega Villains Stage DLC, and players will fight against Dr. Eggman from Sonic and two further Sega villains.

Sega shared the details of the Villains Stage DLC for Shinobi: Art of Vengeance on official Sega social media channels.  According to the announcement, the Sega Villains Stage will come out as post-launch DLC in early 2026 for Art of Vengeance. Dr. Eggman (AKA Dr. Robotnik) has been confirmed as one of the villains players will fight in the DLC, but two more Sega villains have been teased as part of the package.

Shinobi: Art of Vengeance is set to launch at the end of this August, as shared in its debut reveal earlier this year. It comes from developers Lizardcube, which had a hand in developing Streets of Rage 4 alongside Guard Crush Games and Dotemu.

The idea of fighting classic Sega bosses sounds pretty interesting, especially given that we only know one of the three characters. Dr. Eggman is a good start and it will be interesting to see how Sonic’s main adversary appears in the Shinobi: Art of Vengeance DLC, but we’re also curious to see if characters like Death Adder from Golden Axe, Dr. Bad-Boon from Super Monkey Ball, or even an enemy from Yakuza series make the cut.

With a release window on the Villains Stage DLC set for early 2026, and Shinobi: Art of Vengeance coming at the end of this August, stay tuned to the Shinobi topic for more news and updates.