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Sega shuttering several offices across Europe and Australia
Sega's European arm is closing offices in four European regions and Australia, the company announced this morning. The move is part of Sega's continued "restructuring" toward a smaller company – a result of "extraordinary" losses incurred over the past few years. Sega offices in France, Spain, Benelux, Germany, and Australia are being closed.Taking up distribution responsibilities in lieu of Sega is Koch Media, parent company of Dead Island publisher Deep Silver, who will handle things in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, France, and Spain. Handling Benelux and Australia are Level03 Distribution and 5 Star Games, while Sega's London office will remain open in an oversight capacity.Sega Europe COO Jurgen Post reconfirmed Sega's commitment to its core IPs in the announcement. "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." He also noted Sega's "confident that this will lead to a successful future."It's at this time unclear how many Sega employees were let go in today's office closures, but we've reached out to the company for more info.
Sega CEO Mike Hayes stepping down
Sega Europe and Sega America CEO Mike Hayes is stepping down and exiting the building, though he may peek in through second-floor windows every now and then in "advisory roles." If the Sega corporate ladder is no longer available, the garden variety should suffice.According to GamesIndustry, the departing executive will remain in the industry in assorted capacities, while COO Jurgen Post and Masano Maeda oversee the company in Europe and America, respectively. Sega has not yet confirmed when or how it intends to fill the CEO role in the future.Sega's American arm was recently struck with unspecified game cancellations, layoffs and significant restructuring in an effort to create a smaller, more profitable business. The company intends to prioritize digital games and safe, mac-and-cheese IPs like Sonic, Total War and Aliens.
