Once upon a time, SEGA was one of the major players in the gaming console hardware market. After the death of their last (and to some, greatest) console, the Dreamcast, SEGA’s been on a slow downward spiral. While they’re still responsible for some killer games thanks to the licences that they have, SEGA’s output has largely gone from bad to worse every year. In this next year? It might be their very worst. According to the financial reports, they have plans to release 47 digital games in the next year. Just one of them isn’t a free-to-play game.
This number excludes whatever physical retail games they may release, but it seems that there won’t be many of those either. SEGA’s outlined what it calls a line-up of weak physical sales of packaged goods over the last year.
Of the games it did sell in stores, these are the ones outlined in the report, with their respective sales.
- Alien: Isolation – 2,110,000 (US, Europe)
- Football Manager 2015 – 810,000 (US, Europe)
- Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric and Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal – 620,000 (US, Europe, Japan)
- Yakuza 0 – 380,000 (Japan)
- Persona 4 Arena Ultimax – 280,000 (US, Europe, Japan)
As far as I’m concerned, Alien Isolation did pretty good numbers, with the legacy and stink from Colonial Marines keeping it from getting higher sales. I loved the game – it was a great survival horror with emphasis on both survival and horror. With what SEGA calls “weak” sales though, it means we may never see a sequel to fix the game’s few wrongs.
Instead, it looks like SEGA’s going big on free-to-play, calling its mobile and PC digital business its “center of growth,” saying that it will “promptly shift management resources from fields such as packaged game software and amusement machine” to its digital business.
While it could mean more money for the company in the long run, it very much means the SEGA you love is essentially, no more.
Last Updated: May 12, 2015
Admiral Chief
May 12, 2015 at 15:35
http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/r-a-dio/images/c/c7/SANIC.png/revision/latest?cb=20130307050557
Ranting Raptor
May 12, 2015 at 15:41
Urmmmm
Admiral Chief
May 12, 2015 at 15:45
http://th00.deviantart.net/fs70/200H/f/2013/149/a/4/sanic_hejehogs_trimpute_by_bibrulz-d673od5.jpg
Hammersteyn
May 12, 2015 at 15:52
Meth, not even once.
Admiral Chief
May 12, 2015 at 15:53
http://i.imgur.com/jCjNXpa.png
Ranting Raptor
May 12, 2015 at 16:55
just… just wow
Admiral Chief
May 12, 2015 at 15:37
Oh how the mighty has fallen
ReaperOfSquirrels
May 12, 2015 at 15:45
have*
Admiral Chief
May 12, 2015 at 15:47
I thought about that, but decided on ‘has’, since referring to a singular entity, SEGA
ReaperOfSquirrels
May 12, 2015 at 15:50
Yeah, I had to think about it a bit too… kinda hurt.
Admiral Chief
May 12, 2015 at 15:52
It does look incorrect, but I’m standing by it
Pariah
May 12, 2015 at 15:38
Sega bye to their credibility.
ReaperOfSquirrels
May 12, 2015 at 15:40
They also had a hand in a few Total War games (Attila, Rome 2, Shogun 2, and the still to be released Warhammer, etc.) which normally do well… but who knows how much they make out of those. Then there was Company of Heroes 2 which was pretty well received too.
Greylingad[CNFRMD]
May 12, 2015 at 15:51
That’s not good…how can 2 million copies of Alien isolation be seen as bad? Did they really budget for more than that? That’s really not good…
Hammersteyn
May 12, 2015 at 15:53
It’s bad when that’s the only game of theirs that really sold any copies.
Greylingad[CNFRMD]
May 12, 2015 at 15:54
Haha, ok true, I wasn’t thinking in the broader spectrum… but then again, it’s not that single titles’ responsibility to keep a company that beeg, like Fritos, going….
Hammersteyn
May 12, 2015 at 15:52
F2p Golden Axe Rpg please?
ReaperOfSquirrels
May 12, 2015 at 15:53
With online co-op and customization?
Hammersteyn
May 12, 2015 at 15:54
And more than three classes
Admiral Chief
May 12, 2015 at 15:54
^This
Admiral Chief
May 12, 2015 at 15:54
So, what will you pay for then? Levels? Skins? More characters? HATS?
Hammersteyn
May 12, 2015 at 15:55
Axes!
Pariah
May 12, 2015 at 15:55
Gimli would be proud, little elf.
Hammersteyn
May 12, 2015 at 15:56
Awww you think I’m pretty?
Pariah
May 12, 2015 at 16:00
Wouldn’t know. Never seen your face, little elf. Mayhaps you should ask JJ, since he’s the real expert in this regard.
Hammersteyn
May 12, 2015 at 16:06
Well show me one ugly elf in LOTR
Admiral Chief
May 12, 2015 at 16:07
…all those that became orcses
Pariah
May 12, 2015 at 16:10
You mean the UrukHAI?!
Hammersteyn
May 12, 2015 at 16:38
So call me an orc or a troll or a goblin, apparently I spell worse than them too.
ReaperOfSquirrels
May 12, 2015 at 15:59
Skins for customization that you can unlock by grinding for them?
Pariah
May 12, 2015 at 16:00
For 500 hours. Or pay $2.99 and save yourself the grind. But of course, the choice is yours!
ReaperOfSquirrels
May 12, 2015 at 16:05
That’s how F2P should work, in my opinion at least.
Everything that can be purchased (except maybe a few things) should be accessible in game without paying, and it should all be cosmetic. No Pay 2 Win crap.
Pariah
May 12, 2015 at 16:09
What I’m alluding to is how damn impossible they make the grind to get the item for free. The longer and harder the grind, the more likely a purchase is made instead. And it’s a very common tactic in F2P.
ReaperOfSquirrels
May 12, 2015 at 16:18
Yeah, that’s true. They get a bit crazy with unlocking the item. I saw it with a few F2P MMO’s I used to play. Also Warframe… some of those parts, etc O.o
Skoobaz
May 12, 2015 at 16:09
i see what you did there…
Ross Woofels Mason
May 13, 2015 at 07:27
To be honest the rail runner sonic game on android is probably the best Sonic game they have made since dimps made Sonic Rush for the nintendo DS lol.
So I am okay with this, sort of =p