Blane
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Sega recently held a press conference at the Tokyo Stock Exchange, and the results of the first half of the fiscal year are a little less than stellar.
Tetsu Kayama, COO for Sega Japan, commented on several points, including the performance of the Sega Sports brand. Kayama explained that Sega Sports lost 6 billion yen this half as a result of Sega's overconfidence. For example, only about 400,000 copies of NFL2K3 have been sold from the original shipment of 1 million copies. NBA 2K3, however, showed stronger sales of about 500,000 to 600,000 units.
Counting all ten of Sega's development studios, the company made a net loss of 1.5 billion yen this half. Sega is currently considering a business plan for the next fiscal year that will include fewer titles and genres to hopefully break even at 11 million yen. Projected sales say that 3 of those million will come from the homeland, with 6 million coming from North America and an extra 2 million from Europe.
To cut costs, Sega is considering withdrawing from the NCAA franchise and concentrating on only four major sports. Additionally, sports titles for the GameCube may be cut entirely as a result of lower sales and increased production costs. To incrase potential sales, Sega is also considering expanding "Entertainment Titles" (such as Sonic or VF4) to all consoles instead of just one.
Of course, these decisions are pending as Sega debates them internally. Kayama says to expect announcements next month.
Tetsu Kayama, COO for Sega Japan, commented on several points, including the performance of the Sega Sports brand. Kayama explained that Sega Sports lost 6 billion yen this half as a result of Sega's overconfidence. For example, only about 400,000 copies of NFL2K3 have been sold from the original shipment of 1 million copies. NBA 2K3, however, showed stronger sales of about 500,000 to 600,000 units.
Counting all ten of Sega's development studios, the company made a net loss of 1.5 billion yen this half. Sega is currently considering a business plan for the next fiscal year that will include fewer titles and genres to hopefully break even at 11 million yen. Projected sales say that 3 of those million will come from the homeland, with 6 million coming from North America and an extra 2 million from Europe.
To cut costs, Sega is considering withdrawing from the NCAA franchise and concentrating on only four major sports. Additionally, sports titles for the GameCube may be cut entirely as a result of lower sales and increased production costs. To incrase potential sales, Sega is also considering expanding "Entertainment Titles" (such as Sonic or VF4) to all consoles instead of just one.
Of course, these decisions are pending as Sega debates them internally. Kayama says to expect announcements next month.
