-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
Sega announces extraordinary loss of 7.1 bn yen, layoffs, restructures, cancels games
- Thread starter duckroll
- Start date
Did you play Generations?
Combichristoffersen
Combovers don't work when there is no hair
He played both Generations and Colours
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=36494966&postcount=377
GotEmRunnin
Member
How soon before Sega starts selling IP's?
this is a shame. there's been so much bad news the past few years with development houses and publishers cutting back or going under.
More and more, it's becoming obvious that the industry can't support all these titles with large budgets and 60 dollar retail prices.
I'm not saying every game will be 99 cents on a phone, but there needs to be more projects for consoles that have smaller budgets so they could turn a profit if they retailed for 40 or less.
a few mega hits each year from the same few franchises (and publishers) is not a way to sustain an industry.
More and more, it's becoming obvious that the industry can't support all these titles with large budgets and 60 dollar retail prices.
I'm not saying every game will be 99 cents on a phone, but there needs to be more projects for consoles that have smaller budgets so they could turn a profit if they retailed for 40 or less.
a few mega hits each year from the same few franchises (and publishers) is not a way to sustain an industry.
BenjaminBirdie
Banned
A better economy could have sustained the budgets needed to produce more HD games. You can't have one pillar of market failure without the other. They're both intrinsically connected.
Yeah, Atlus, that makes sense.
Game with ~$20 million budget and a niche closet publisher.
Closer to $30M from what I hear. That said, if they've impaired Bayo2 (as they mention impairing some projects), it would still come out.
Also, sort of interesting that with the Japan market being down, there's no restructuring happening in Japan.
Europe, I totally understand (Game going under is a big impact I'm sure).
EatChildren
Currently polling second in Australia's federal election (first in the Gold Coast), this feral may one day be your Bogan King.
Shuddup you!
Criminal Upper
Banned
BAYONETTA 2 ARE YOU OK?
POST IF YOURE OK!
As sad as it is, this made me laugh.
Combichristoffersen
Combovers don't work when there is no hair
BAYONETTA 2 ARE YOU OK?
POST IF YOURE OK!
So, Bayo Are You OK
Are You OK Bayo
Bayo Are You OK
So, Bayo Are You OK
Are You OK Bayo
You've Been Hit By
You've Been hit By
A Smooth Cancelling
sixteen-bit
Member
RIP Virtua Fighter 5 Final Shodown Console Ver.
too good for this world
too good for this world
UberTag
Member
There's a correlation here when you think about it.Just when sega started making/publishing great games again they started to lose a lot money.
Marketing/mindshare trumps quality.
Especially when you're not financially in good shape in the first place.
Not even the Mario & Sonic go to the Summer Games/Winter Games/White Castle can save Sega now.
(Yes, I would buy a game where Mario and Sonic go to White Castle that co-starred Neil Patrick Harris. So would a lot of people.)
Nah, that will come out, they've got it pretty much done already. Game was gameplay complete at FR. They just need to add the DLC costume stuff.
the future of VF is going to depend on FS DLC sales though.
Fine Ham Abounds
Member
Laughed, then cried
DukeTogo1300
Member
I will buy the shit out of it.
lunchwithyuzo
Banned
Nintendo's been thriving on arcade style games this gen though (Wii Sports, NSMB, Rhythm Heaven, Mario Kart, Smash Bros, etc). It's not like the market for this sort of stuff is gone.
Anasui Kishibe
Banned
Iwata: *kickstarts Sega*
You....you..you shut your LYING MOUTH!
east of eastside
Banned
Sega currently has a war with me on their forums. They have an issue with me because I represent an agenda in favor of their best economic interests, but because my take is extreme and counter conventional gaming assumptions that rub most gamers the wrong way they have declared me a problem poster on their forums. This failure totally vindicates my view and their desperate need to alter their approach.
SpikedGunner
Member
I thought things were going great as well(despite lack of marketing/constant general audience dislike of SEGA), SEGA was building a better catalog than the previous generation...but this comes as crushing blow.
In regards to the argument that people never being pleased with anything SEGA post-Dreamcast, I agree with that though they did release a lot of crap titles last gen (most likely to due to the constant shifts in restructuring) so that is hard to shake off...part me however things Eurogamer was right to say in their review of Binary Domain that SEGA has nostalgia as a curse.
Another issue I think may be a cause for this? lack of marketing...at the very least outside of Japan (and isn't Sonic). Hell, I saw almost no ads for Binary Domain (which was suppose to a big title for SEGA) and only saw a trailer posted maybe once in a long while before there was some attempt the month before launch. Even Anarchy Reigns wasn't getting much hype before the delay.
like everyone here, I'm really worried about what got canned/saved. I WANT to see Bayo 2, more localized Yakuza, Binary Domain 2, other new games with Platinum, more arcade/HD ports, new (possibly great) IPs get made and released, SEGA...don't that away from me.
(yea, I would say Shenmue 3, but I know that ain't happening ESPECIALLY right now)
Can Nagoshi help us out here come April 1st?
In regards to the argument that people never being pleased with anything SEGA post-Dreamcast, I agree with that though they did release a lot of crap titles last gen (most likely to due to the constant shifts in restructuring) so that is hard to shake off...part me however things Eurogamer was right to say in their review of Binary Domain that SEGA has nostalgia as a curse.
Another issue I think may be a cause for this? lack of marketing...at the very least outside of Japan (and isn't Sonic). Hell, I saw almost no ads for Binary Domain (which was suppose to a big title for SEGA) and only saw a trailer posted maybe once in a long while before there was some attempt the month before launch. Even Anarchy Reigns wasn't getting much hype before the delay.
like everyone here, I'm really worried about what got canned/saved. I WANT to see Bayo 2, more localized Yakuza, Binary Domain 2, other new games with Platinum, more arcade/HD ports, new (possibly great) IPs get made and released, SEGA...don't that away from me.
(yea, I would say Shenmue 3, but I know that ain't happening ESPECIALLY right now)
Can Nagoshi help us out here come April 1st?
twinturbo2
butthurt Heat fan
They better not cancel a XBLA/PSN release of Daytona USA 2, that's all I have to say. ::folds hands::
The Elephant in the room has grown to monumental proportions. The cost of developing console games is just too high for the majority of publishers to realistically turn a profit. Ignoring this fact will only harm the industry even more.
How many publishers this generation made money vs publishers who lost money vs publishers who had to close shop or merge?
How many publishers this generation made money vs publishers who lost money vs publishers who had to close shop or merge?
CrazyArcadia
Member
I also liked Sega's Output the last few years. Then again, and I know this is just another anecdote, I know only 2-3 people personally who also bought Sega games (one fellow Yakuza fan, 2 who bought Bayonetta and Sonic Generations, one for Valkyria Chronicles 1&2, one for Vanquish.. no one for Binary Domain...) in the last few years while I know many more people who play videogames but really stick to the usual fare of CoD/Mario/WoW.
But coming from that article and the word "extraordinary" I would believe there might be hope that these losses are a one-of-a-kind thing. Japan faced a huge disaster last year and that probably had an impact on general economy over there as well. Last holiday season was a dissapointment for several publishers when it comes to sales and I guess some might adjust their release strategies now. Add to that some games who really didn't make ends meet for Sega financially. It makes sense to concentrate on secure hits for a year or two now. I also believe one of the reasons why Yakuza is somehow profitable for the west might be that the producers of the series are fairly quick in releasing games, Yakuza itself being quite a big title over in Japan and the western fans being happy with japanese voice track only (srsly, a publisher who releases a game only with a japanese dub these days probably knows that only a certain group will consider buying it and this group seems to be big enough outside of Japan to make a text-only localisation profitable as long as it isn't on a handheld or something). I personally don't fear about Yakuza or Platinum Games, if anything we probably won't see the return of old franchises or new IPs for some time...
But coming from that article and the word "extraordinary" I would believe there might be hope that these losses are a one-of-a-kind thing. Japan faced a huge disaster last year and that probably had an impact on general economy over there as well. Last holiday season was a dissapointment for several publishers when it comes to sales and I guess some might adjust their release strategies now. Add to that some games who really didn't make ends meet for Sega financially. It makes sense to concentrate on secure hits for a year or two now. I also believe one of the reasons why Yakuza is somehow profitable for the west might be that the producers of the series are fairly quick in releasing games, Yakuza itself being quite a big title over in Japan and the western fans being happy with japanese voice track only (srsly, a publisher who releases a game only with a japanese dub these days probably knows that only a certain group will consider buying it and this group seems to be big enough outside of Japan to make a text-only localisation profitable as long as it isn't on a handheld or something). I personally don't fear about Yakuza or Platinum Games, if anything we probably won't see the return of old franchises or new IPs for some time...
AndrewDean84xX
Banned
Release less Bayonetta and more Shenmue.
Digital re-releases etc are extremely cheap to create and probably don't garner much money back either -- they're pure fan peddling
It's their retail stuff that hits slumps, outside of anything Sonic related. Their Xbox 360 games like "Thor" and "Captain America" probably lost them money.
It's their retail stuff that hits slumps, outside of anything Sonic related. Their Xbox 360 games like "Thor" and "Captain America" probably lost them money.
McBradders
NeoGAF: my new HOME
What about Arkedo's game?!
ThoughtsOfSpeaking
Banned
I'm a huge sonic fan, but I'd be ok with this.
There is NEVER going to be a sonic game that pleases more than 2/3rds of the fanbase and a good proportion of them will still only buy the games at bomba prices or used.
lunchwithyuzo
Banned
Isn't that what Mario & Sonic already was? I shudder to think what Sega CS would look like financially without that cash cow propping them up.
Don't say that. It's still coming out.
It is too good for this world though, and will probably underperform because of that.
so basically you want sega to die faster
Costs can be lowered. Not everything needs to be AAA.
The problem is companies overvalue their work, and think it needs to be AAA, when it shouldn't be.
This is why indies have done well, they fill the void profitably.
Sho_Nuff82
Member
What is an Anarchy Reigns.
It comes to both cost and asset management and workflow procedures. They could learn a thing or two from the western studio in this regard.
Tech will move forward and it is the survival of the fittest or rather the ones who are adaptable.
EteRnal PAL
Member
I weep if there is no Bayonetta 2...
I guess we can stop dreaming about Shenmue 3. I now wonder if they will even bother releasing Shenmue 1 & 2 as digital releases.
I guess we can stop dreaming about Shenmue 3. I now wonder if they will even bother releasing Shenmue 1 & 2 as digital releases.
ColonelSkills
Member
Do we know if their ports to XBLA were at all profitable? They can't be that pricey but the returns can't be all that either.
I'd hate for JSR to be the last one.
Also giant sadface re: Bayo 2, but I sort of assumed it was shit canned earlier than this. =\
I'd hate for JSR to be the last one.
Also giant sadface re: Bayo 2, but I sort of assumed it was shit canned earlier than this. =\
TheNatural
My Member!
Maybe to help get a gauge on how big of a loss this is, the exchange rate is £54m / $86m.
That's just insane for a company that only makes software. Japanese companies have really fell off the cliff this generation, sans Nintendo.
That's just insane for a company that only makes software. Japanese companies have really fell off the cliff this generation, sans Nintendo.
herzogzwei1989
Banned
Damn, there goes all hope of a Model 3 arcade collection for current-gen consoles, or next-gen, whatever. No Daytona USA 2 I suppose. FUCK.
ThatCrazyGuy
Member
sad news. Man, they have so much back catalog of arcade games with no home ports that people want. They are already developed, just get them ported. I would buy all of it!
lunchwithyuzo
Banned
Sonic Generations, Yakuza 4, Virtua Tennis 4, Rise of Nightmares, Mario & Sonic London 2012 and that's just the stuff SOJ actually made and not counting digital or handhelds.
Wow and here I though Sega was one of the few Japanese publishers actually making a profit. =/
RIP Bayonetta 2