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Sega Sammy sees losses in gaming sector, StarHorse3 sales continue unabated
Sega Sammy Holdings is a ginormous company; one that, on the whole, is doing pretty well for itself, having ended the first quarter of fiscal 2013 in the black to the tune of ¥2.544 billion -- a massive increase over the ¥2.224 billion loss the company reported last year. When broken down by section, however, Sega Sammy's "Consumer Business" segment didn't fare as well as the company's pachinko/pachislot and amusement center-oriented segments.The Consumer Business division, the part of the company responsible for console and handheld gaming, posted an operating loss of ¥1.559 billion for the three month period ending on June 30, but that's actually up 59 percent from the ¥3.856 billion loss reported for the same period last year. Consumer Business shipped a total of 1.3 million units during Q1, with more units shipping to Europe (700,000) than to the US, Japan and elsewhere combined (400,000 and 230,000 respectively).Honestly, we think it'd do wonders for Sega Sammy's bottom line if they'd start selling the convertible horse racing loveseats they make for "StarHorse3 Season Ⅰ A NEW LEGEND BEGINS" (above) on their own, or license out the design to movie theaters.
Dimps acquires rights to its Rumble Fish series
No, not the book. The Rumble Fish, by Street Fighter IV developer Dimps, was a 2D fighting series that debuted on Sammy's Atomiswave arcade hardware in 2004, followed by a sequel.Now Dimps has picked up the rights from Sega Sammy, who didn't seem to be doing anything with them. Dimps relaunched the series' website, promising new information soon. The simplest course of action for the company would be to release the PS2 ports digitally on PS3, but there's no news yet about how involved Dimps' plans are.
Sega streamlines US, European operations after posting $86 million loss
Sega Sammy Holdings Inc. has announced that it will begin streamlining its American and European operations after posting an 7.1 billion Yen ($86 million dollar) extraordinary loss for the 2011 year. The move is expected to create a "smaller company positioned for sustained profitability" with the company planning a shift to a new "digital content" strategy. It'll cancel work on new, forthcoming titles and just concentrate on key earners like the Sonic, Football Manager and Total War franchises. There's no official word on if it'll involve job losses, but the company is setting aside 4.9 billion yen ($59.7 million) of that loss figure in order to cover the costs of the corporate reorganization. In the meantime, we're off to pour one out for one of our childhood staples.
Sega promotes Yakuza creator Nagoshi to Chief Creative Officer
Prompted by the retirement of Sega Sammy COO Okitane Usui, several executives at the company are moving up -- most notably Yakuza, Binary Domain, and Super Monkey Ball producer Toshihiro Nagoshi, who will be the company's Chief Creative Officer starting April 1. That seems like a good move, as Nagoshi's Yakuza franchise is a rare success among Sega's products.Taking over as President and COO is Naoya Tsurumi, who has previously served as CEO of Sega Europe and Sega of America, and has been General Manager of Sega International since 2010.
Sega signs distro deal with Atlus parent company Index Holdings
Index Holdings, parent company of developer and publisher Atlus, is looking to take advantage of Sega's significantly larger distribution network in Japan, announcing intentions to partner with the Japanese publisher for future distribution. The deal kicks off in April 2012 and will see games across Atlus' various properties distributed under the Sega moniker in Japan.The deal doesn't apply to digitally distributed titles, and it's unclear if this will affect Atlus' distribution in other parts of the world. It seems that the distribution deal arises from Index Holdings' consistently declining revenues and an inability to support Atlus' growth in its most important market. We've reached out to Atlus for further comment.
Sega's home game division posts losses, Mario & Sonic a bright spot
Sega's "Game Contents" division (i.e. home video games) was down 5.1% for the nine-month period ending December 31, with the company reporting 63.5 billion yen ($833 million) in net game sales from the division ... and 5.5 billion yen in total losses. As for reasoning, Sega said only that "in the overseas markets, sales of the new titles remained slow as affected by adverse market condition." Best we can tell, that "adverse market condition" refers to our economies all being really, really terrible.The publisher shared sales numbers for its major releases. Sonic Generations sold 1.63 million copies across four platforms (Wii, PS3, PC, and the 3DS Generations game). Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games outsold it with 2.39 million copies -- despite not being released in Japan yet, and only being on one platform at the time, the Wii. And, uh, despite being a Mario & Sonic Olympics minigame collection. Hatsune Miku Project Diva Extend for PSP (released in Japan only) was the other named hit, with 290,000 copies.Looking up at Sega's sales by platform, it's worth noting that Sega's single PlayStation Vita release, Virtua Tennis 4 (called Power Smash 4 in Japan) sold just 10,000 copies between the Vita launch date of December 17 and the end of the year. That ... doesn't seem very good.
Sega game sales down in first half of fiscal 2012; Rise of Nightmares fails to hit the heights
The net sales for Sega Sammy's consumer division were down 13.7% year over year in the six months ended September 30. Sega brought in 33.4 million yen ($428,655) from its home game business, part of the 152.6 million yen in overall net sales. The 29.9% slump in company-wide net sales is mostly attributed to a slowdown in demand for new pachinko machines and "the settlement payment for patent licensing". Within the consumer business, Sega cited "weak" sales of its titles, especially in the west, which, Sega claims, continues to experience "headwinds such as sluggish personal consumption." Sega named three "major titles" released in the period, and detailed their sales. Captain America: Super Soldier, released only in the west, sold 450,000 units across four platforms. Rise of Nightmares sold 200,000 worldwide. The other major release, the Japan-only PSP soccer management sim Sakatsuku 7 Euro Plus, also sold 200,000.
Sega Sammy financial posting shows weak US demand, losses
Sega Sammy Holdings posted weak financial results for the fiscal quarter ending June 30, including a net-profit loss of $28.1 million -- last year in the same quarter it posted a net profit of $89.6 million. Contributing to this was a 22.3 percent decrease in Sega's regular sales, bringing the entire company's operating loss to $49.9 million, which is 500 percent higher than last year's quarter. Sega Sammy noted "generally weak" demand in United States and European markets as a major loss factor, citing "sluggish personal consumption" in the regions and the need to adapt its focus to social and smartphone gaming. Sega said Japanese sales remained strong and its iOS title Kingdom Conquest was downloaded 1.3 million times, while pay-per-use sales of the online pachinko service 777 Town "remained solid." This could mark a shift in Sega's operating tactics, so we'll be on the lookout for Sonic's Social Network App for Android and iOS later this year.
Sega earnings suffer from Yakuza delay, 'sluggish' Western game sales
Sega Sammy's consumer game division -- a.k.a. Sega games -- brought in ¥89.55 billion ($1.1 billion) in sales over the last fiscal year (ending March 31), down 26.5 percent from the previous year. Operating income declined even more sharply to ¥2 billion ($24.8 million), down 68.9 percent. While the previous fiscal year saw major success from Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games, this latest 2010–11 fiscal year was an off-year for the two Olympians, who were in training for their next competition. Sonic's less sporting pastime, Sonic Colors, was the bestseller in Sega's lineup, moving 2.18 million copies worldwide. It was followed by ... Iron Man 2, which sold 1.54 million. Vanquish, which everyone without Stark Industries stock would agree is the better robot-suit game, only managed about half of that achievement at 830,000 units sold. Shogun 2: Total War and Phantasy Star Portable 2 Infinity (which only came out in Japan) rounded out Sega's "major" lineup with 600,000 and 370,000 copies sold, respectively. Sega said that sales were slow in North America and Europe due to "the adverse market condition," noting "sluggish personal consumption" in those regions (which ... didn't seem to be an issue for everybody). Additionally, Sega's big Japanese release, Yakuza: Of the End, was delayed out of the fiscal year as a result of the Tohoku earthquake in March, further reducing the company's bottom line. Overall, however, Sega Sammy about doubled its net profits from the previous year to ¥41.51 billion (roughly $513 million) on the strength of its pachislot and pachinko business.
Sega Sammy posts profitable third quarter, Vanquish moves 820K
Sega Sammy's financial results for the nine months ending December 31, 2010 showed marked upswings in overall sales and profit for the company. While the majority of money came through its pachinko and amusement arm, game publishing saw ¥67.4 billion ($826 million) in revenue and ¥2.8 billion ($34.3 million) in profit -- both notable increases since the company's last check-in. Hidden among the many, many financial numbers was news that Platinum Games' fourth effort, Vanquish, had sold 820,000 copies since its release in late October, while Sonic Colors had moved a whopping 1,850,000 by the end of 2010. That's alotta hedgehog! The majority of the company's overall sales took place in Europe (owing to sales of Football Manager 2011), with the US following closely behind and Japan in a distant third.
Sega software sales on the rise, for now
Sega Sammy's recovery continues: Despite the generally bad economy, the company is turning around -- just not at Sonic speed. For the first half of the company's fiscal year, ending September 30, 2010, sales in the Home Video Game Software division (the "Sega" you know) were up 19 percent over the same period last year to ¥18.7 billlion ($231 million). Now, imagine this group as a Russian nesting doll inside the "Consumer Business" division, which recorded net sales of ¥38.7 billion ($477.5 million; up 2.9 percent) during the first half, despite an operating loss of ¥1.3 billion ($16.1 million) -- though the full-year projection is a more rosy ¥7 billion in operating income. Three PSP games were highlighted as "Major Titles" for the period, including Kurohyo: Ryu ga Gotoku Shinsyo, a.k.a. Black Panther: New Yakuza Chapter, which sold 250,000 units; and a pair of licensed music games, Hatsune Miku: Project Diva 2nd and K-On Houkago Live, accounting for 340,000 and 210,000 units sold, respectively. Overall, total sales of 33 available software SKUs in the first half reached 6.6 million units, besting the 5.4 million mark set by 30 SKUs during the first half of the last fiscal year. However, the full-year projection -- 16 million units sold from 75 SKUs -- is significantly lower than last fiscal year's total, 26.75 million units sold (across 105 SKUs). In its report, the company said that the software industry has been "generally weak" in the US and European markets due to ... "headwind like sluggish personal consumption." The company's overview statement claims: "The Group needs to adapt to changing business environment in which the market demand for new content geared to social networking service (SNS), smartphone is expanding."
Sega sales up in fiscal Q1, despite Alpha Protocol's disappointing performance
Sega parent, Sega Sammy Holdings, has reported net sales of ¥91.3 billion ($1.05 billion) for its fiscal first quarter, which ended June 30. The outcome compares favorably to the ¥60.5 billion ($700 million) recorded by the company during the same period last year -- and it's mostly due to pachinko sales. Still, Sega's consumer products division -- the part that makes home video games -- also enjoyed increased sales, bringing in ¥20.9 billion ($241.8 million), minus ¥636 million ($7.36 million) in operating losses. Despite the generally upward trend, Sega reported slow sales of its major Q1 titles, Iron Man 2 and Alpha Protocol, due to "adverse market conditions." Iron Man 2 sold 1.12 million units across multiple platforms, while Alpha Protocol only sneaked into about 700,000 homes.
Mario, Sonic, and Profits in Sega's fiscal 2010
Despite recent troubles in the North American and European branches, Sega overall had a good fiscal 2010, which ended March 31, financially speaking. The company as a whole saw its operating income rise to ¥36.7 billion ($397 million), a huge increase over fiscal 2009's operating income of 8.3 billion ($89.8 million). Operating income refers to profits minus expenses incurred in running the company -- in case you wondered why we picked up on that random statistic. The consumer games division made ¥6.3 billion ($68.2 million) in operating income, returning to profitability despite a year-over-year drop of 7.5%. The profits in this division were driven by ridiculously strong sales of Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games (6.53 million copies!), as well as million-plus sellers Aliens vs. Predator (1.69 million), Bayonetta (1.35 million), and Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing (1.07 million). Source [PDF] - Appendix of Consolidated Financial Statements Year Ended March 31, 2010 [Via Andriasang]
Bayonetta moves 1.1m units in Sega fiscal Q3 2010 results
After surviving harrowing losses of ¥22.8 billion (nearly $254.8 million) during its fiscal year 2009, Sega Sammy Holdings (parent company to Sega, which you've probably sussed out) has managed to revive its faltering bottom line. According to the company's latest financial report, Sega Sammy brought in a net income of ¥16.9 billion ($189.5 million) during the first nine months of its fiscal 2010 (April–December 2009). This income came in spite of the fact that Sega's total game sales had dropped 13 percent from the same 9-month period the previous fiscal year -- however, thanks to the company's massive restructuring last February, operating income skyrocketed to ¥28.8 billion (about $323 million), which more than softened the blow. The company's highest-selling title was, alarmingly, Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games, with 5.6 million units sold (and probably counting). Bayonetta, which was only available in Japan (released October 29) during the period covered by the report, came in a distant second with 1.1 million units sold. It looks like the company's managed to recover from an extremely painful fiscal 2009 -- at a cost.
Sega reports $150 million dip in sales for Q1 2010
Sega Sammy Holdings, Inc. has released its Q1 2010 financial earnings report, which covers the period from April 1, 2009 through June 30, 2009. The document shows that the company saw a ¥14.139 billion ($150 million) decline in sales over Q1 2009. Specifically, Sega reported first-quarter sales of ¥60.461 billion ($639M) as opposed to ¥74.6 billion ($789M) for the same period in FY 2009. The publisher's figures show that, in addition to changes in its pachislot business, a smaller number of home console releases contributed to the decline. Sega released 37 titles across all platforms during Q1 2009, but only 17 for Q1 2010. Still, it projects total software sales to be up ¥230 million ($2.4M) for FY 2010.
Sega loses less money in 2008 (Thanks, Werehog!)
According to Edge, the house that Sonic built is inching toward the black. Sega Sammy has reported a net loss of around $240 million for its fiscal year ending March 31, down $310 million from last year's losses of $550 million. The company's sales declined 6.5% to roughly $4.5 billion, while the game division itself saw a sales decline of 7.5% to $1.38 billion. The gaming division also managed to dramatically reduce its operating loss to $9.9 million, down from 62.8 million last year.The company highlighted Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games, Football Manager 2009 and Sonic Unleashed as good performers in the US and European markets, while Yakuza 3 and Phantasy Star Portable did well in the Japanese market. The company also noted that 85% of the 29.47 million games sold this fiscal year were sold in the US or Europe.Having already laid off 560 employees and closing 110 amusement facilities, Sega plans to continue with restructuring plans, which include "bringing together the sales and manufacturing functions" and also publishing fewer titles. No word on whether the publisher plans to continue its streak of putting out well-reviewed games that no one will buy.
Sega Sammy's stock rises on news of $100m net loss for Q109
Japanese publisher (and House of Sonic) Sega Sammy posted a ¥10.5 billion (approx. US $96 million) net loss for the first quarter of Fiscal 2009 – that's double the losses from a year earlier -- and sales of ¥74.6b, a 22% decline. Despite all this, the publisher managed to beat expectations and subsequently shares were up 13% to ¥1,201 per share, the sharpest increase since its listing as a holding company on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in October 2004, according to Bloomberg.The pachinko and arcade divisions, as well as the global and Japanese economy, were cited as reasons for the losses. Particularly, the pachinko business saw around US$40 million in losses. The games division increased sales to ¥30.5 billion, reducing the operating loss to ¥4.12b. Overall unit sales were around 6.89 million (3.16m in US, 2.89m in Europe and 830k in Japan), with Mario and Sonic at the Olympics noted as having so far shipped 7 million units worldwide.
Sega dissolves Korean subsidiary, nixing $330m Yokohama arcade complex
Aside from planning to axe 400 jobs as part of Sega Sammy's most recent "turnaround efforts," the outfit will also be closing the doors to its Korean subsidiary. Currently, Sega Korea is "handling the domestic distribution and sales of video game software, as well as the operation / sales of amusement facilities and machines," and reportedly, the closure will be executed in the name of "global business optimization." As it stands, there's no set date for the branch's dissolution, but just in case your smile wasn't turned upside-down already, the company also stated that it would discontinue the development of a ginormous $330m arcade complex slated for construction in Yokohama, Japan -- if you couldn't guess, that one's being shuttered so the firm can "focus its efforts on its core business to improve its performance" in short order. Seriously though, what the hell kind of company would spend $330m on arcade, anyway?[Via Joystiq, image courtesy of USMC]
Sega shuts down Korean offices, cancels Yokohama arcade plans
Hard times have fallen on publisher Sega Sammy, who has announced the closing of a subsidiary office based in Korea, as part of a "global business optimization" in the wake of massive financial losses.The "global business optimization" will also affect Sega Sammy in Japan, where plans for a $330m arcade in Yokohama have been canceled, after an initial $227m investment in the purchase of land. At fault is the coin-operated amusement side of the company's business, which is suffering in Japan at the hands of the home console market. At least Sega Sammy continues to hold its head up high, denying any potential for buy-out.
Sega: We're not interested in a buyout, thanks
Apparently, one merger per decade is enough for Sega. Despite falling on some tough financial times recently, Sega has declared that it is decidedly not interested in getting bailed out by some generous big-time buyout (not that anyone else was necessarily interested, mind you).In an interview with Reuters, Sega Sammy CEO Simon Jeffrey said his company isn't eager to ride the industry's recent wave of consolidation. "That's not an area we want to play in right now," he said. "We have no interest in being acquired, we are very happy with our position right now."Buoyed by extremely strong sales of Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games, Jeffrey seems perfectly content with his company's current sixth-place position in the game publisher rankings. "There is plenty of room for smaller companies to be successful and profitable in this business," he said. "You don't have to be number one or number two. You can be number six very happily," Jeffrey said. Chant along with us everybody: We're number six! We're number six!
