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Rumor: Sega Europe about to close, no more Sega AAA, focusing on digital only

A

awaiken

Banned
If you love Sega, show it. Pre order Anarchy Reigns and buy Binary Domain (New Copy)

Amazon has not taken down the Anarchy Reigns product page
 
D

Dead Man

Member
goomba said:
Assume he just means that when Sega had their own platform, Sega fans bought the Sega console. Now Sega fans are split between Wii, PS3 and Xbox360 platforms.
Click to expand...
So, like any independent publisher then?
Kokonoe said:
In short.

Too many different characters.
Too many different gameplay styles.
Too many different personality types for each game.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I really don't understand why this is perceived as such a problem. Maybe I'm just dense, but how is this different to Ubi or Square?
 
G

Graphics Horse

Member
brain_stew said:
Pie and beans, SEGA don't just publish the Total War and Football Manager games, they're fully in house productions. They're as much a part of SEGA as Sonic is these days.
Click to expand...

And if they have any sense, they'll hold on to them.

My guess is they'd turn Sega Europe into a holding company and shut/sell off their various offices dotted around the continent which are only needed for the retail business.

Sports Interactive would make Football Manager for PC(download) and IOS/Android devices like they're already doing.
TCA would be cut down to their earlier size once they finish the Prometheus console game or whatever it's meant to be.
Stick to making Total War for PC(download) and IOS/Android devices like they're already doing.
 
S

Shiggy

Member
Had they produced interesting and good projects that interest me, I would've supported them. Now I only feel sorry for the employees.
 
K

Kokonoe

Banned
Dead Man said:
Yeah, I really don't understand why this is perceived as such a problem. Maybe I'm just dense, but how is this different to Ubi or Square?
Click to expand...

Because these are the same characters. Their changes in style and direction aren't just to fit a theme of a game, they are essentially permanent main stays. It's not like Paper Mario where the theme of the game is "Paper". It's like that if because of Paper Mario existed, Mario is forever a "Paper" character, or that each game must feature an enthralling storyline.

You know there are some Sonic fans that prefer 2006 over Generations just because it had a "story"? That's the diversity there. Nothing is it's own entity, it's all combined into one.
 
G

Gunsmithx

Member
Gravijah said:
irishninja goes to europe, rumors of sega europe closing... hmmm...
Click to expand...
I told him what would happen, damn it nick!

Still have a hard time seeing this as true and them pulling out of the console space with big titles. I could see a bigger focus on casual/mobile though
 
D

Dead Man

Member
Kokonoe said:
Because these are the same characters. Their changes in style and direction aren't just to fit a theme of a game, they are essentially permanent main stays. It's not like Paper Mario where the theme of the game is "Paper". It's like that if because of Paper Mario existed, Mario is forever a "Paper" character, or that each game must feature an enthralling storyline.

You know there are some Sonic fans that prefer 2006 over Generations just because it had a "story"? That's the diversity there. Nothing is it's own entity, it's all combined into one.
Click to expand...

I think I understand. Thanks.
 
L

ll_l_x_l_ll

Banned
well.. i hope this is not true. :(

my childhood was all about sega mega drive and sonic.

and it killed me once when the dreamcast went dead while i was enjoying shenmue.

i dont want them to go . at least one of the big companies " Nintendo, MS or Sony " buy them out or their IPs. at least

i remember MS buying Acclaim " was it MS ? "

and i have never seen Extreme - G till this day :(

it was my fav futurastic racing game . when the bikes cross the sound barrier :(
 
Glass Rebel

Glass Rebel

Member
ll_l_x_l_ll said:
well.. i hope this is not true. :(

my childhood was all about sega mega drive and sonic.

and it killed me once when the dreamcast went dead while i was enjoying shenmue.

i dont want them to go . at least one of the big companies " Nintendo, MS or Sony " buy them out or their IPs. at least

i remember MS buying Midway " was it MS ? "

and i have never seen Extreme - G till this day :(

it was my fav futurastic racing game . when the bikes cross the sound barrier :(
Click to expand...

You remember wrong, Midway went bankrupt, assents went to Warner Bros.
 
C

CrunchinJelly

formerly cjelly
I'm not sure of the news here. They essentially mentioned as much during the restructure a month or two ago.

To be fair, Sega have scaled back no end over the last ten years. So much so that this is essentially where they were headed regardless.
 
A

Augemitbutter

Member
Shaheed79 said:
Oh good, I'm glad that I am not the only one who took serious note of that and hasn't forgotten the significance of it. Because of MS we may never again see another new Panzer Dragoon, Spike Out or Jet Set Radio game. MS shouldn't even be allowed to touch Sega with a 200 meter pole made of solid gold.

I don't think that it is a coincidence that the Sega developers, who concentrated on Gamecube, had the most success, and ended up having the lead team after the restructuring of the Japan studios. Yakuza has become Sega's best and most important Japanese developed non-Sonic IP.
Click to expand...

yea, i've been saying this for years. don't forget that shenmue 2 had also its last release as an xbox port.

pretty terrible outcome all around.
 
raviolico

raviolico

Member
Graphics Horse said:
Is that Creative Assembly title their ALIEN game?
Click to expand...

i would say so.

E3 reveal in combination with Prometheus` US opening would make a good fit i guess.
would be great if it´s based on Prometheus aka the "Alien Universe" in general raher than "just" straight ALIEN.
 
E

ezodagrom

Member
It's probably been mentioned before, but that rumour sounds like complete BS, the Total War and Football Manager series are still quite successful, I don’t believe SEGA would close every European branch while those 2 titles remain successful.

EDIT: Just checked the previous page in this topic, this makes it obvious that this rumour is not true:
TimmiT said:
A community manager from Sega of America is joking about this on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/Clumseh/status/209158217576628225
https://twitter.com/Clumseh/status/209158875239292929

Somehow I doubt this is true.
Click to expand...
 
S

Samurai_Heart

Member
awaiken said:
If you love Sega, show it. Pre order Anarchy Reigns and buy Binary Domain (New Copy)

Amazon has not taken down the Anarchy Reigns product page
Click to expand...

I did these ages ago, can only blame everyone else =(, isn't their Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed game made in th UK, Sumo Digital is in Sheffield soo....this game ain't an AAA title?
 
D

Diablohead

Member
If true this is sad news but I hope that sega do well and make money again in their new approach, let's hope that JSR is not the only awesome dreamcast port we will see.
 
E

ezodagrom

Member
tkscz

tkscz

Member
3350.gif
 
R

RurouniZel

Asks questions so Ezalc doesn't have to
Is this the end of Sega AAA altogether, or only Western Developed Sega AAA?

This is important information.
 
K

Koralsky

Member
So, SEGA is back to basic, to be just arcade developer ;)

But, seriously, Total War and Football Manager series are quite successful in Europe, so they can''t just say SI and CA to forget about PC and console stuff and make just mobile games.

About a year ago SEGA themselves admit that both SI and CA are profitable studios.

Also, Sonic is quite popular in Europe. And they have this Olympic Mario and Sonic games that sells 3+ millions every 2 years.

Most of their console digital offerings are also quite successful so saying "focus on digital games for cell phones and notably tablets." is just sound stupid.

If they shutdown completely SEGA Europe, this means they will (commercially) kill Sonic brand quite fast.

In the end, I hope this rumor is not true - SEGA like a medium sized publisher will be missed :/

Edit:

Originally Posted by TimmiT:
A community manager from Sega of America is joking about this on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/Clumseh/status/209158217576628225
https://twitter.com/Clumseh/status/209158875239292929
Click to expand...

lol

End: Western AR release?
 
AHA-Lambda

AHA-Lambda

Member
I can't see this happening, surely? What about Football Manager, Total War, Sonic and Aliens? They each made big money for sega and were all singled out as still having ongoing development.
 
C

CrunchinJelly

formerly cjelly
ezodagrom said:
It's probably been mentioned before, but that rumour sounds like complete BS, the Total War and Football Manager series are still quite successful, I don’t believe SEGA would close every European branch while those 2 titles remain successful.

EDIT: Just checked the previous page in this topic, this makes it obvious that this rumour is not true:
Click to expand...

Yes, because Sega are well-known for keeping their employees informed, just liked they did when they laid off most of Sega America the other month.

Joking about stuff like this when you don't know the details is a bit off.
 
S

Suzuki Yu

Member
this rumor is laughable..
why would SEGA shut down SEGA Europe when 3 of their key major titles (retail titles) planned for the next two years is being developed by their European arm (Creative Assembly/Sports Interactive) ?
not to mention that Sonic & all Stars Racing is also under development by Sumo.

We conducted detailed reviews of earnings projections for titles targeted toward the U.S. and European markets and decided to narrow down sales titles from the following period and after to strong IPs, such as “Sonic the Hedgehog,”, “Football Manager”, “Total War” and “Aliens” which are expected to continue posting solid earnings. In accordance with this, we are canceling the development of some game software titles.
Click to expand...

http://www.segasammy.co.jp/english/pdf/release/20120330sega_kaikaku_e_final.pdf

closing the office branches in all over the continent apart from U.K is possible though
 
A

Aeana

Member
Para bailar La Bomba said:
The problems at Sega-Sammy pre-dated the GFC and had very little to do with publishing Platinum's games.

The parent company was in serious trouble as far back as 2007 when it posted a $250M loss and laid-off 400 employees, in an otherwise stable economic climate.

By early 2008 (still pre-GFC), Sammy closed down its European division and Sega Korea followed soon after.

Sega-Sammy's management structure has been resistant to change and they were brutal exposed during the GFC. Part of this was pouring large amounts of capital into areas without seeing a commensurate return, including game development.

However , the assertion that publishing 2 Platinum Games (one of which almost certainly broke-even for them) was a major contributing factor is pretty outlandish.
Click to expand...

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/joke
 
Yoshi

Yoshi

Headmaster of Console Warrior Jugendstrafanstalt
Imo that's totally horrible if true :(. I hope if true, Nintendo buys most franchises and teams, especially Sonic.
 
S

Stuart444

Member
I'm calling bull.

I also have trouble believing articles that say "according to our credible source", even more so from sites I've never heard of til now.
 
G

Graphics Horse

Member
Suzuki Yu said:
this rumor is laughable..
why would SEGA shut down SEGA Europe when 3 of their key major titles (retail titles) planned for the next two years is being developed by their European arm (Creative Assembly/Sports Interactive) ?
not to mention that Sonic & all Stars Racing is also under development by Sumo.



http://www.segasammy.co.jp/english/pdf/release/20120330sega_kaikaku_e_final.pdf

closing the office branches in all over the continent apart from U.K is possible though
Click to expand...

Exactly. And according to their rumour, they're still to officially announce and release this Creative Assembly console project, so even if it's all true it's not like they're suddenly shutting up shop tomorrow.
But their usual British output is not AAA console games and could arguably survive on digital sales alone, so it's very suited to this transition.
 
S

specialguy

Banned
This has probably already been posted but what if the "last triple A game" by Creative Assembly becomes a smash and sells like 20 million lol.
 
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