Rice Digital take a look at the opinions of Sega employees about what's gone wrong at the company and what they think can be done to make things right. Some really enlightening stuff in here.
Well, it's the similar situation for many game publishing companies that won't be mentioned by name here. Management is mostly shit with overblown ego, I left my job at similar place cause of the political office "buttcheek chair grabbing" nonsense, I was honestly afraid somebody will be punched in the face really, really fucking hard, and it won't be me.
It has two sides. Fanbase enjoying the product without any knowledge of how the other side struggles and sacrifices anything to give most of their lifes work basically to "managing" parasites, 'cause laid off are only lower tier workers. Parasites obtain bonuses thanks to tightening the budget(you know, "good work for cutting those expenses").
The countless times I've been fighting with management for any damn reason, protecting the team, have only brought me to this conclusion: fuck them corporate abominations. They aren't humans.
Yeah, it sounds like some people had it pretty rough there, and the people at the top didn't have a clue what was going on. Saving their own personal skin while everything fell apart around them.
Guess that's a common theme in so many large companies though.
To be fair they tried to continue making Sega-esque games like Panzer Dragoon Orta, Jet Set Radio Future, Otogi and a lot of new IP's but they didnt sell well enough. Gamers these days arent as interested in the bright colors, arcade gameplay and japanese flair that characterized Sega games
Sega's last moment of brilliance was 2009-2010 with Vanquish, Bayonetta, Sonic Colors, Madworld, and HOTD: Overkill, those were the last really "Sega" games they published/developed.
Since then it feels like Yakuza is the only series that feels worthy of the Sega name.
I was a big fan of sega back in the day but now I am thinking they will be dead within the next 10 years, maybe even within the next 5 with the way they are going. They are far from the sega of old, at this point they are only sega in name everything else is long gone. Maybe when they go under someone worthy will come along and pick up the great IPs they have and make something great.
I've never played or owned a great Sega game... just saying. I think the only Sega game I have currently is on PS3 and it's called Sonic the Hedgehog. I think it might be the best game I own and I own lot's of great games like Superman 64.
Being in the video game business in mydays I can tell you that being an American branch to a Japanese business is tough. The Japanese HQ hold such a huge iron fist over you and they don't allow the US offices to do a darn thing.
And if by chance the main office does greenlight the US branch to make a new game, develop an existing IP or anything and it fails ... you can expect that branch to never work on a new IP for decades to come, not to mention lay-offs and threats of the office closing down.
Management is always a b**ch to their employees because they have to report to their Japanese bosses and that is like talking to a stern, abusive unforgiving father. And of course the crap always rolls down hill. Management wants to protect their job and seem competent so they constantly throw their employees under the bus.
Just from personal experience working at a few spots here in the Bay Area.
I guarantee that the sad state sega is in applies to many game companies of today. How often do we see rushed, broken, incomplete, and down right soulless games nowadays? It's all about the bottom dollar, quantity before quality. Eventually the market will crash because of this thinking.
Completely agree. If game companies continue to release unfinished games like AC Unity and the MCC it will be the video game crash of 1983 all over again.
Wow, that's a pretty interesting, and harsh read. Some of those employees comments are pretty damning of what it must be like to work there.
Yeah, it sounds like some people had it pretty rough there, and the people at the top didn't have a clue what was going on. Saving their own personal skin while everything fell apart around them.
Guess that's a common theme in so many large companies though.
Lol damn, sounded like a mess.
Hope that things turn around though and that Sega reads some of these suggestions.
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It really saddens me to see sega as it is today, I still play my old sega consoles and love how great they were. Shame.