Sega Cutting 300 Jobs As Developer Focuses Upon Smartphone and PC Online Games

CraveOnline: "Times are a-changing for Sega, as it seems the company has grown tired of creating critically panned console games and are instead moving towards smartphone and online PC games."

[Kamikaze135]

And still no Phantasy Star Online 2 in the West.

[miyamoto]

Still no Streets of Rage 4 or next generation Shinobi 4 or Golden Axe, or Sonic Generations 2.

"The company recently concluded its three-game exclusivity deal with Nintendo and its Wii U console, with the last release of this deal, Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric, being widely regarded as one of the worst console releases of last year. "
Sticking with the Wii U was a really bad decision and a loosing one too.

[zeal0us]

I think Sega (and Capcom) are run by jackasses/dumb-asses .

[Xman2K]

Exactly, the pii u exclusitivity was a terrible idea. They could've gone with PS4 and tried something graphically intense to try and swing pros back. Also you can't blame them as the market has totally changed and to justify the expense of making games is driving a lot of companies mobile

[mcstorm]

I have to disagree with you all above in the decision on the 3 game exclusive deal with Nintendo. If you look at the number of sales for Sega's games on the xbox and PlayStation consoles compared to Nintendo's consoles you will see that sega's IP's sell better on the Nintendo consoles. Look at the last all star racing and the WiiU sold more copies of the game than the 360 and PS3 put together.

That said about their games Sonic Lost World was a step in the right direction for the Sonic gore but Boom just smashed that as it was very poor and is not the direction Sonic should go.

For me ide love to see Sega being out some of there older IP's from other gen games like a Crazy Taxi, Sega Rally,Sega GT, Shinobi, Golden Axe (Maybe as an Open World Game)

[Ol_G]

Yeah cause bringing sonic boom to ps4 would really help this has nothing to do with wii u and everything with the piss poor management at sega so please keep your fanboy panties in check

[Concertoine]

The wii u descision wouldnt have been bad if they didnt release three crap games.

[breakpad]

Nontendo sit consoles are damn acidic they destroy whatever come in contact (the same hapenned with Capcom when released exclusive MH3 and RE remkes for Nintendo exclusively..with their exclusivity in their underpowered machines destroyed famous Ips ans bankrupt Capcom )....why Sega didnt try to develop a pS4 game and released worse than sit Sonic boom games ..when they want are talented and create good games (yakuza , Anarchy reigns , Vanquish=ok are platinum games but Sega's Ips) Yakuza is quite famous even here in west ..this shows that true quality games are always successful

[Testfire]

@ zealous, yeah pretty much. How and why once great companies and cornerstones of gaming lose their vision, innovation and sense of pride by not releasing terrible games I'd like to know. Many of these companies have just been riding on the backs of past great franchises or their company name.

[ShaunCameron]

@ breakpad

Nintendo is not the reason for Capcom's current woes. And Monster Hunter being a Nintendo platform exclusive didn't hurt its prestige or sales much as MH3 became the highest-selling home console MH game to date and MH4 moving along nicely. Their current woes started with Resident Evil 6, a game Nintendo never got.

Yakuza is not that popular in the West like it is in Japan.

True quality games always successful? Anarchy Reigns got no fanfare at all. Vanquish barely sold. And Yakuza? Only in Japan.

[Knushwood Butt]

They released crap on the Wii and got away with it.

Didn't work this time.

[wonderfulmonkeyman]

Don't blame the Wii U for Sonic Boom's failure.
That's not the fault of the console.
It was simply A BAD GAME.

[MadLad]

@Xman2K
"Exactly, the pii u exclusitivity was a terrible idea. They could've gone with PS4 and tried something graphically intense to try and swing pros back."

You heard it from Xman . . . games get a pass if they are pretty.

"Gamer"

[styferion]

and Valkyria Chronicles 2 and 3

[Revengeance]

We have VC2. It's on PSP tho.

It's VC3 we need.

[LAWSON72]

@revengeance

Despite knowing that, I still wish the same. In my eyes those are not VC2. What would be is a console experience that betters the original. Perhaps they are good, I wont play them though because they run awful compared to VC1

[Tapewurm]

They really need to release a compilation disc with all of their Saturn and Dreamcast Hits for next gen systems... the titles that are rare and hard to find or just ridiculously expensive in their native format...

Games to include: Panzer Dragoon Trilogy (1, zwei, & Saga), Shining Force 3 (maybe include other episodes not released in US), Burning Rangers, Dragon Force, Shining the Holy Ark, Skies of Arcadia, Shenmue 1 & 2, Sega Rally 1(Saturn) & 2(DC), Daytona CCE (Saturn) & USA 2001 (DC), Phantasy Star Online, Virtua Fighter (combination of all 1, 2, 3tb, Fighters Megamix), Virtual On (Saturn and DC version), Grandia 2 (DC), Sword of Berserk (DC), Virtua Cop 1 & 2, and All House of Dead games....and any others that folks can think of....

With the vast catalog of excellent retro games that Sega has archived.... it just seems crazy to me that they haven't attempted to cash in with this type of release.... boggles the mind 8(

[lelo2play]

"Sega Cutting 300 Jobs As Developer Focuses Upon Smartphone and PC Online Games"

... and yet they still continue making Yakuza exclusive to one console. From a business stand point that is just plain stupid. Sega looses big with the Yakuza exclusivity, and the only winner is Sony.

[LAWSON72]

You realize Yakuza sells pretty poorly outside of JP? Making it available on Xbone would not do much. Yakuza, according to VGChartz, literally has JP making up more than 50% of the total sales. The series is on a decline in sales also.

All this being said I really don't see any marketing done for the game in the states, so this could very well point out the terrible management of Sega. They rather take the easy cash grab of mobile rather than improve on a market they have a name and relevance in. Honestly I say good riddens and thanks for giving the west PSO2 and a proper VC title

[lelo2play]

@LAWSON72

That's a pretty dumb logic. It's better to sell at least a few copies on other platforms (PC/X1/WiiU) then not to sell at all on other platforms.

... and if Sega hasn't made until now a multiplatform game engine to compile their games, they are incompetent.

Like I said, the exclusive only helps Sony, not Sega.

[ShaunCameron]

You know that a vast majority of the studios that went under last generation did exactly what you're suggesting Sega should do with the Yakuza IP, right?

How? Sega may not make as much money from the Yakuza exclusivity but they're definitely not losing as much since they don't have to pay extra licensing and manufacturing costs.

[Magicite]

Oh, Sega, Sega, why do you do this?

[pcz]

that's any hope of shenmue out the window then

nintendo should buy sonic from sega

[ritsuka666]

This guys ruined Shining Force franchise and abandoned Shenmue... So you guys deserve all this shit.

[yewles1]

"Good on you Sega, now I'll REALLY never get Shenmue now..."

[rainslacker]

Regardless of that they focus their marketing on their crappy games, and not their quality games. Imagine if they had put some of those marketing dollars behind games like Valkyria Chronicles, or the good Shining force, or panzer dragoon, or Yakuza, or any number of their other amazing titles which hardly sell because only the hardcore gamers know about them.

Instead they focus on promoting their crappy games like Sonic Boom, or any Sonic game actually, then they act like console games are not profitable because they don't sell, despite the fact a Sonic game will sell on name alone. Then they reason that they make more money on mobile devices because people buy their good stuff up due to nostalgia, or they actually put their effort into them to promote them to get that MT money, thus fulfilling their own predictions.

[ScorpiusX]

So basically going to capitalize on the casual w/ $2.99-$5.99 game while letting you're console supporters hanging in the wind. I liked your game the as to why you are suffering is cause you are cutting quality and randomly just thrown crap stories together in hopes of a sale on name alone . All round sad, but good luck .

[LightofDarkness]

Sad and all as this is for their employees, this has been a LONG time coming.

[FromTheAshes]

Darn...So much for Virtua Fighter 6 I suppose.

@Fishermenofwar

Indeed. Angers me too.

[Fishermenofwar]

I know right..pisses me off...

[rainslacker]

I'll miss virtua Tennis.:( It's probably the only good tennis game series on the market.

[JackVagina]

Are they already having money issues? buying Atlus for 110mil might have been a bad idea.

[XXXL]

Hard to believe at one point Sega was going 12 rounds with Nintendo in an attempt dethrone them. I miss the Genesis vs Snes days

[Perjoss]

Times change. In a few years we could be saying the same thing about MS or Sony, or BOTH, you just cannot tell how things will pan out.

[LightofDarkness]

Me too. That was the beginning of the end for them, though, as both companies started to show their age and inability to adapt. Sega were still stuck in the arcade glory days right up until the Dreamcast and their exit from the console market, not realising that people had grown out of the arcade experience and no longer wanted to "bring it home." They never fully transitioned into the 3D era well like Nintendo, most of their in-house 3D efforts were (are, even) still based on gameplay designs for 2D arcade concepts, eg. beat 'em ups, light gun games and side scrollers. Sonic seems to be stuck in the Sonic Adventure format, which they've never managed to improve upon, while both 2D and 3D Sonic games have not aged well.

Their scattergun approach to improving console tech towards the end of the Megadrive was also a serious misstep, most of those products should have never made it out of the R&D phase; the 32x and Sega CD were money holes.

I'm actually surprised it's taken this long, when you think about it.

[Concertoine]

Sega had some of the best software teams out there, they just didnt have enough cooperation across regions and not the best hardware architects.

I dont think anyone one company has supported a console as well as Sega did the DC. They made all the right moves and got game after game out, but by then it was too late.

[error13]

Goodbye real Sonic the hedgehog games. So many memories so much fun :'(

[weirdo]

i want virtua fighter 6

[Mikefizzled]

Might as sell Atlus and Creative Assembly before you destroy them.

[SliceOfTruth888]

perfect opportunity for Sony or Microsoft to swoop in and snag console rights to all Sega IPs....they can ride their smartphone gaming bubble till it explodes and we can get some quality versions of Virtua Fighter, Sonic, PSO, Shining Force, Streets of Rage, Skies of Arcadia, Shenmue and so on

[wonderfulmonkeyman]

Nintendo needs Sega's IP's more than the other two, given the fact that Sony and Microsoft have plenty of other third parties to cover their needs.

[rainslacker]

Don't think Sega is at the point of having to liquidate. If they did it would be like when THQ went under, they'll sell off the IP's individually in a bidding war, so no one company would likely get them all unless they buy Sega.

Buying Sega would also mean buying Atlus, and probably some other companies, and I would hate to see them go exclusive to any company...although I wish they'd release their games on multiple platforms so as not to segment the fan base...but that's another discussion.:)

[jimmywolf]

agree with others disappointment in this news, their many game they could have ported from ps2 till now. instead they focused 90% on sonic milking an poorly at that. i would prefer if they got bought out, versus dragging their IP down with them.

[Gwiz]

The difference between Sonic Boom and Alien Isolation in terms of quality is insane,i think i've never seen such a polarization in quality before within a company.

[Death]

So ignoring what their fanbase wants and not releasing games in the West isn't working? Who woulda thunk it?

[TheGamez100]

They've been bringing games i've no interest in...where is a new valkyria chronicles?, a good sonic game?, phantasy star online 2/nova in the west?, etc...hopefully this doesnt affect ATLUS, a company that still makes great games like persona

[WESKER2015]

Sad day in gaming for sure. These are dark days ahead my friends.

[Nucler100]

Damn, a true shame man. Enough of this mobile BS..

Hope the people dropped find better jobs.

Edit: "Sonic Boo" was a failure (along with some others according to their statement) so you are just going to give up? Listen to the fans and things would be different..

Smh.. I don't know what happened to SEGA, they used to be one of the best.. I guess they just lost their vision somewhere along the way.

[AKR]

Just hand over the rights to Sonic to Nintendo. That franchise would fit in N's arsenal perfectly.

[R00bot]

If they go down there'll probably be a bidding war. They won't just hand over rights :P

[LOL_WUT]

How about Nintendo opens up that checkbook? They stop being cheap and be aggressive for once ;)

[LightDiego]

That's terrible, and now the company will focus on smartphones and pc online games? Looks like Sega it's over.

[o-Sunny-o]

Sadest day of my life time to cry and play Sonic Adventures. :'(

[gangsta_red]

How the mighty have fallen.

I remember their office in San Francisco, it was huge. It was also where G4 TV was before they became G4. They then moved out to damn near an apartment sized office and now they are getting the hell out of SF.

Maybe if Sega stopped shoving medicore Sonic games down our throats and put some effort into their many other IP's like Virtual On, Phantasy Star, Crazy taxi, Jet Set radio....I mean they have a huge cast of lovable characters just like Nintendo.

No reason they should be in the position they are.

[GokuSolosAll]

Goi.g the s****y Square Enix route, eh? Enjoy fading from relativity.

[Xman2K]

I own a wii u and have every right to say it's worse than the gamecube, amazing that Nintendo gets away with this as if it had been MS, people would gladly torment them to death. As of right now actually, Nintendo needs to make a move on Shenmue and Platinum games needs to on Shinobi and Sonic. That would be the one game that saves the boring Wii U from the cutesy yawnfest machine and for Platinum, making Shinobi and Sonic on the PS4 would be a total WIN. It is what is, face it.

[ShaunCameron]

No. Shenmue was the reason Sega could no longer make consoles. It ruined their finances. Barely anyone bought that game when it came out. Nintendo has no real reason to get Shenmue.

How many people are checking for Shinobi in 2015 to warrant development?

The PS4's base is barely any different from the XBox One's base in terms of tastes. So are Shinobi and Sonic being on the PS4 gonna benefit them?

[Xman2K]

You're right non Nintendo franchises don't sell on wii u. ps4 would be best choice. Also if reboots done right Shinobi, Sonic could again be staples in gaming. Thing is the expense of making these games, we are losing our japanese developers and franchises and it's a shame

[ShaunCameron]

@ Xman2K

LOL @ the PS4 being the best choice. PS4 owners barely play anything that isn't an FPS, an open-world action or a sports game. So exactly, how are Shinobi and Sonic being on the PS4 gonna benefit them?