Hendo Posted June 3, 2012 Share Posted June 3, 2012 Rumour doing the rounds is that Sega Europe is going to close! The company will then focus only on mobile and other download games. Nicked from rllmuk, translated from French... http://www.gamekyo.com/newsfr46962_sega-europe-devrait-annoncer-sa-fermeture.html On the eve of E3 2012, we are able to inform you, according to our credible sources, that Sega Europe will be finally closed in the coming months as well as all the local branches in Europe like Sega France. This is partly a consequence of the ineffectiveness of Sega's strategy over the past several years of developing games by western developers. At the same time, Sega will also announce, according to these sources, they will no longer develop AAA games on consoles, but will focus on digital games for cell phones and notably tablets. Sega's last big title developed by Creative Assembly will be presented at E3 2012 in a few days. Furthermore, remember that Sega has announced they will not be at Gamescom 2012. It's now been called "false" by the director of Sports Interactive and CVG have changed their story on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sly Reflex Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 http://www.metro.co.uk/tech/games/903566-sega-closes-all-european-offices-except-uk In the most public demonstration yet of just how much of a financial squeeze Sega is under, the company is set to pull out of publishing in Continental Europe and will instead increase its focus on digital content. Sega Europe will be closing its offices in France, Germany, Spain, Australia and Benelux, with Koch Media now set to distribute their games in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, France and Spain. Level03 Distribution will handle their games in Benelux and 5 Star Games in Australia. All of this will begin from July 1, with Sega Europe's HQ in London one of the few outposts not affected (we're not sure how they publish games in Scandinavian, but they aren't mentioned either way in the press release). Although Sega merged with heavyweight pachinko manufacturer Sammy some years ago they've still struggled to make a success of their games retail business after giving up making consoles. Their last financial results in particular were disastrous, and quickly led to a series of vicious cut backs. At the same time Sega announced that it would be concentrating almost solely on established franchises such as Sonic The Hedgehog, Football Manager, and Total War - something you can see reiterated in the quote below. 'SEGA is entering a new and exciting phase that will position the company as a content led organisation maximising sales with strong and balanced IP such as Sonic the Hedgehog, Total War, Football Manager and the Aliens franchise', said Sega Europe's Jurgen Post. 'The company will benefit from a clear focus and realigned strategy for our digital business and packaged goods and we are confident that this will lead to a successful future. Although Sega has yet to make any official announcements the implication is that more niche titles, particularly Platinum Games fare such as the already troubled Anarchy Reigns, will be slowly (or perhaps quickly) phased out. That doesn't mean you won't get any more experimental games from Sega, it's just that anything like that will be a download now and not a retail release. But with games such as Ron Gilbert's The Cave and Hell Yeah! Wrath Of The Dead Rabbit already lined up for PC and console download services Sega still has plenty of interesting games on the way. We just wouldn't hold out for a Dreamcast 2 announcement anytime soon. Oh dear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HandsomeDead Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 I wonder what this also means for the large scale favour that is the western release of the Yakuza games? If they won't release things by Platinum Games then Yakuza 5 doesn't look likely either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimboxy Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 I wonder what this also means for the large scale favour that is the western release of the Yakuza games? If they won't release things by Platinum Games then Yakuza 5 doesn't look likely either. Did any of the Yakuza games other than the first come out over here? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HandsomeDead Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 No idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DANGERMAN Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 There is a chance either someone else will bring Yakuza 5 or they'll just put it on psn Also annoyingly I held off getting Yakuza 4 for £8 and now it's sold out everywhere Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now