Sega closes all European offices except UK
Japanese publisher Sega is to close its offices in France, Germany, Spain, Australia and Benelux, as the company continues its attempts to focus on proven franchises and digital content.
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
