THQ isn’t the only big publisher facing a financial crisis — Sega just reported a whopping 47% drop in profits for the past fiscal year, and unfortunately, that means that the Japanese giant will have to institute some drastic cuts in its workforce. Sega also stated that they’ll have to cancel several of their upcoming titles in order to focus on becoming profitable again (translation: expect more Sonic games and not much of anything else.)
Sega announced that they are “restructuring” and “streamlining” their operations in America and Europe in order to cut costs, though they didn’t specify how many people will be losing their jobs or which divisions they plan to cull.
In terms of games, Sega is hoping that by focusing on franchises that are popular in the West, such as Sonic and Aliens, the company can get back to the business of making money. Sega didn’t specify which of their upcoming titles will be cancelled in the wake of this new strategy, but I think it’s safe to assume that the company won’t be taking any more chances on original IP like the recently released (and apparently surprisingly decent) Binary Domain any time soon.
Sega was my favorite game company back in the 90’s, and while I’ve been a harsh critic of most of their post-Dreamcast output, it’s still always a shame to hear about people losing their jobs. With big titles like Phantasy Star Online 2 and Aliens Colonial Marines, as well as the oft-rumored Sonic Generations sequel for Wii U all reportedly in the works for 2012, here’s hoping Sega can get things back on track.
Rian Quenlin
Christ, 47%?
Penisburgler
Please… For the love of god, don’t let JSR HD be cancelled.