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Sega to cut 300 jobs (heavily arcade/pub staff), refocusing on digital/mobile/PC [Up]

D

dark_inferno

Member
Understandable.

They release the good games only in Japan (Yakuza and PSO2) and the bad games gets released everywhere (Sonic).

Also they havent had a big seller in a long time.
 
Tizoc

Tizoc

Member
dark_inferno said:
Understandable.

They release the good games only in Japan (Yakuza and PSO2) and the bad games gets released everywhere (Sonic).

Also they havent had a big seller in a long time.
Click to expand...

Yakuza games don't sell as much outside Japan. The last Yakuza game released had 500K sales in Japan combined, which based on a post I read is more than the combined sales of all Yakuza games released in US at least

Sonic games just need better focus and stick to a frickin' structure. And also to release Sonic 1 and 2 remasters on Steam, PSN, XBL, etc.
 
S

Smurf

Banned
If Japanese and European productions aren't affected then what is? What SEGA franchises have been developed in NA in the past few years?
 
S

SparkTR

Member
dark_inferno said:
Understandable.

They release the good games only in Japan (Yakuza and PSO2) and the bad games gets released everywhere (Sonic).

Also they havent had a big seller in a long time.
Click to expand...

Rome II sold well, and Football Manager always gets great sales. The thing is all those sales are digital, they don't have a need for that many staff on packaged goods or arcades when they continue to stagnate.

Smurf said:
If Japanese and European productions aren't affected then what is? What SEGA franchises have been developed in NA in the past few years?
Click to expand...

They're laying off staff relating to packaged goods and arcades, not developers it seems. It probably means we'll be seeing less retail titles by Sega.
 
S

Smurf

Banned
Tizoc said:
Yakuza games don't sell as much outside Japan. The last Yakuza game released had 500K sales in Japan combined, which based on a post I read is more than the combined sales of all Yakuza games released in US at least

Sonic games just need better focus and stick to a frickin' structure. And also to release Sonic 1 and 2 remasters on Steam, PSN, XBL, etc.
Click to expand...

Sonic has to be the most mismanaged series in video games, every time they hit the sweet spot with Adventure 2, Colors or Generations a terrible reboot nobody wanted seems to be right around the corner.
 
N

NolbertoS

Member
Sega is going to continually die slowly now. I honestly think Nintendo ahould buy as much of Sega's library of games and/or Atlus to have more JRPG's in there system. Sooner or later, Atlus will be on the chopping block.
 
N

Nirolak

Mrgrgr
Smurf said:
If Japanese and European productions aren't affected then what is? What SEGA franchises have been developed in NA in the past few years?
Click to expand...

They're laying off the infrastructure they used to support their formerly successful retail and arcade businesses.

Now that they release very few retail or arcade games, and plan to release less over time, they don't need hundreds of staff in place to support releasing retail/arcade products like when they were putting out those types of games all the time.

Their recent ho-hum-to-totally-not successes probably cemented that they weren't going to return to this direction, so they went ahead and made the cuts.

NolbertoS said:
Sega is going to continually die slowly now. I honestly think Nintendo ahould buy as much of Sega's library of games and/or Atlus to have more JRPG's in there system. Sooner or later, Atlus will be on the chopping block.
Click to expand...
I realize GAF posters largely don't like mobile or PC digital games, but these are successful businesses for Sega.
 
Tom Nook

Tom Nook

Member
No matter where you go Sega, we will never forget *salutes*
rKh9c5q.jpg
 
C

Cheebo

Banned
NolbertoS said:
Sega is going to continually die slowly now. I honestly think Nintendo ahould buy as much of Sega's library of games and/or Atlus to have more JRPG's in there system. Sooner or later, Atlus will be on the chopping block.
Click to expand...

Continue to die? You realize Mobile has been very successful for them right? That is why they are focusing so much on it.
 
F

flaxknuckles

Member
Smurf said:
Sonic has to be the most mismanaged series in video games, every time they hit the sweet spot with Adventure 2, Colors or Generations a terrible reboot nobody wanted seems to be right around the corner.
Click to expand...

Adventure 2 was terrible though. And so is the first one.
 
L

Linearskillz

Member
> Sonic continually fails to meet expectations.
> Sonic considered a growth area.

Err I guess that makes sense if you consider Sonic as a net negative. Can only go up right? Good luck I guess.

I'm more curious what this means for Relic and Creative Assembly. No more cool stuff like Alien: Isolation? That would be a shame.
 
S

Salex_

Member
NolbertoS said:
Sega is going to continually die slowly now. I honestly think Nintendo ahould buy as much of Sega's library of games and/or Atlus to have more JRPG's in there system. Sooner or later, Atlus will be on the chopping block.
Click to expand...

Err...it doesn't seem like you're thinking with a clear mind or from a business POV.

What will Nintendo do if they somehow buy a large portion of SEGA's IPs?
 
RAIDEN1

RAIDEN1

Member
...Well the 1st Sonic Adventure was one of the "killer apps" for the Dreamcast...before it all turned into a nightmare for Sega...
 
Tizoc

Tizoc

Member
Smurf said:
Sonic has to be the most mismanaged series in video games, every time they hit the sweet spot with Adventure 2, Colors or Generations a terrible reboot nobody wanted seems to be right around the corner.
Click to expand...

Sonic Boom was never a reboot, it was just them trying a different approach to the series. It sadly didn't work.
 
V

VariantX

Member
Tizoc said:
Yakuza games don't sell as much outside Japan. The last Yakuza game released had 500K sales in Japan combined, which based on a post I read is more than the combined sales of all Yakuza games released in US at least

Sonic games just need better focus and stick to a frickin' structure. And also to release Sonic 1 and 2 remasters on Steam, PSN, XBL, etc.
Click to expand...

Yeah, how the hell do you finally solve the problem with 3D sonic with sonic colors/generations, and then proceed to gloriously unsolve it with the next two installments?? And why the hell hasn't sega allowed that guy who did sonic 1,2,CD to work on the S3&K remake??
 
K

kess

Member
Sega of America used to be something. From Peter Moore to this.

I don't think this is what Isao Okawa had in mind
 
J

Jisgsaw

Member
Nibel said:
Update:

Quick Breakdown:
-Sega is continuing their refocus to digital games.
-As part of this, they're downsizing their Western publishing business (but not their Western development studios), and staff in their arcade game department in Japan. They're also transferring the staff they can to mobile/PC Online in particular.
Click to expand...

Well, I hope NISA is still on good term with atlus/Sega, else we'll never see another Atlus game in Europe...
 
M

Mauricio_Magus

Banned
SliceSabre said:
Sounds like Atlus is gonna be fine then.
Click to expand...

That's all that matters.

Seriously, Sega was fucking GODLY in the past, and I had some hope because of Yakuza, Miku, Sonic Generations... but it's all probably over, at least release fucking PSO2 if you're going to focus on freaking PC games.
 
N

ngff02

Member
I see the news to be good to be honest.. physical console releases haven't exactly been good to them for a long time. Most of my SEGA purchases the past few years were digital downloads.
 
C

Celine

Member
Phediuk said:
I thought Sega had been doing alright these last few years. wtf happened.
Click to expand...
They did?
All I know is that Sammy was the one to bring the big profits from pachinko business while consumer business (console games) lost more money than they earned.

Overall Consumer Business is in the red (-17.602 Bn Yen) since Sammy acquired Sega.
Consumer Business operating income (or loss) since Sammy aquired Sega (in billion yen):

FY05: -8,810
FY06: 1,977
FY07: 1,749
FY:08: -5,989
FY09: -0,941
FY10: 6,332
FY11: 1,962
FY12: -15,182
FY13: -0,700
FY14: 2,000
 
K

kaioshade

Member
Mauricio_Magus said:
That's all that matters.

Seriously, Sega was fucking GODLY in the past, and I had some hope because of Yakuza, Miku, Sonic Generations... but it's all probably over, at least release fucking PSO2 if you're going to focus on freaking PC games.
Click to expand...

That would actually make sense and give fans what they want...so you know this cannot happen.
 
clem84

clem84

Gold Member
It's like each passing year Sega goes further away from the great company it once was and steadily becomes something we don't want it to be. I don't really blame them, they have to remain profitable. It's just sad.
 
B

Babymario26

Member
Smurf said:
Sonic has to be the most mismanaged series in video games, every time they hit the sweet spot with Adventure 2, Colors or Generations a terrible reboot nobody wanted seems to be right around the corner.
Click to expand...

After generation launched about a month later, i read an interview saying that they were going to introduce new gameplay and mechanics. i thought why do this when sonic generation proved this new formula worked? but then you realize they only stay with a formula for about 3 games then its a new one.
 
C

Cheebo

Banned
Gamezone said:
Mobile gaming is going to ruin gaming.
Click to expand...
There are incredible mobile games. Go to toucharcade.com reviews filter by 4 and 5 stars. And go enjoy some of the best games the industry has to offer on portables.

Look how much fun kids have playing Minecraft pocket and subway surfers as well. I doubt they feel mobile gaming has ruined gaming.
 
J

jholmes

Member
Definitely not the direction I wanted the company to go in. For all the talk about Sonic and Persona and Yakuza, I'm most concerned about the loss of an arcade presence. Sega wasn't just one of the legends in the market, but the arcades were a constant source of innovation and new IP for the company, and as Sega's done little to innovate or create new IP for a decade now, this worries me.

Best wishes to anyone affected by the layoffs.
 
M

MrBadger

Member
Babymario26 said:
After generation launched about a month later, i read an interview saying that they were going to introduce new gameplay and mechanics. i thought why do this when sonic generation proved this new formula worked? but then you realize they only stay with a formula for about 3 games then its a new one.
Click to expand...

I think Generations was a bit of a dead end and they did the right thing by attempting to change the formula to merge speed and platforming a bit better. It's just a shame they ballsed it up.
 
O

Opiate

Member
BadWolf said:
Arcade staff?

So Virtua Fighter is dead?
Click to expand...

Or scaled back, sure.

The message here should be that Sega is gradually migrating towards PC digital platforms and mobile, while gradually reducing their output at arcades and console retail.

This is along the lines of what weve seen from some other publishers like Epic and Crytek. The money is in PC digital and (especially) mobile, and many companies are now migrating in that direction.
 
M

MCD

Junior Member
Valkyrie on PC was a success, was it not? Will it mean more Steam games like Persona in the future?
 
A

Ansatz

Member
Sega for me is arcady/wacky gameplay but dressed up with a more mature type of presentation. I like their games but I'm not crazy about them.

Nintendo is arcady + cartoony, Sony is cinematic + mature.

Those two still exist and have their place in the market, but I feel like the Sega combination is a contradiction in today's environment. Those who want mature content prefer realistic, slow, methodical games, not over the top-ness.
 
N

Nirolak

Mrgrgr
Opiate said:
Or scaled back, sure.

The message here should be that Sega is gradually migrating towards PC digital platforms and mobile, while gradually reducing their output at arcades and console retail.

This is along the lines of what we've seen with smaller but still relevant studios like Epic and Crytek. The money is in PC digital and (especially) mobile, and many companies are now migrating in that direction.
Click to expand...

Honestly we've even seen this among larger publishers like Activision Blizzard, EA, and larger independent studios like Valve.

Ubisoft is still very much a packaged goods publisher though which is a big part of why they've had so many issues getting to where Activision and EA are despite their major growth (and tremendous staff growth).
 
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