It has been confirmed that Sega of America has laid off a number of its staff. VentureBeat has reported that the number of employees affected is "small", but the exact figure is currently unknown.
A spokesperson for Sega said:
As the gaming industry continues to evolve, companies must adapt and adjust in order to compete and succeed in an ever-changing environment. As a result of this, Sega of America has recently undergone a restructure that will enable the company to focus efficiently on developing new and existing content across digital platforms as well as continuing to focus on key brands for packaged goods.
The company — which was once famous for being Nintendo's biggest rival — has recently moved into the realm of digital titles, with several key releases on iOS and Android. Sonic the Hedgehog remains Sega's most well-known asset, but other franchises — such as Football Manager and Total War — are growing in stature.
Sega recently purchased Atlus, which is famous for its RPG titles.
As ever, our thoughts are with those impacted at Sega of America. Hopefully this is merely minor restructuring which will enable the company to become even more successful in the future.
[source venturebeat.com]
Comments 27
Buy a huge company and then fire original employes to save money? LAME
You don't know... Those people might not have been very good at their jobs
@MadAussieBloke I doubt that would be news coming from Sega
If you are spending more on marketing than actually creating the stuff you are marketing you are doing it wrong. Better the product the less marketing it needs.
It still astounds me that Retro is the only Nintendo development team outside Japan. All the rest is dead weight.
@unrandomsam dead weight?
@faint Time for SEGA to cut the fat if you know what he means
I hope none of you ever loose your job, its awful, and life changing.
Hopefully they were the employees who decided that the new Sonic game can't be played in single player using the pro controller.
@faint They probably spend 100 times more on marketing (That doesn't work) than development. Having the best games that are on no other system and loads of them is all the marketing that would be needed these days.
@Dambuster I'm at the top of the game in my industry so I will never get the chop... And if I do then I can easily move into another job because like @ogo79 said it best 'I know I got skillz' baby
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Laying off people in order for the company to survive is almost standard in today's economy. It's happening everywhere, not just in the video gaming business.
@bezerker99 Sic transit gloria mundi. That doesn't make it right, though. At least, Iwata seems to know the value of the employees on his company, as seen by the fact that he is one of the few CEOs more willing to cut his own pay-check than sending competent people to the unemployment cue due to bad management of which they took no part of.
@unrandomsam
Are you talking about NOA here (since this is about SEGA of America I don't know why you'd even bring that up)?
@unrandomsam monolith soft is not dead weight.
@MadAussieBloke
if you do poorly at your job, they don't Lay you off, you get fired
"As the gaming industry continues to evolve, companies must adapt and adjust in order to compete and succeed in an ever-changing environment" - every time I read something like this, I just imagine them going to iOS and Android platforms.
@ikki5 You also get the chop if you don't display enough skillz
This is most likely positions that are overlapping with some of the jobs from their new acquisition. Middle management types.
@unrandomsam Are you aware of how much marketing costs? Pretty much any major publisher is spending tens, even hundreds of millions of dollars per year on it. No, superior products don't market themselves. That's preposterous.
Wasn't comfortable with Sega acquiring Atlus due to the mismanagement of their once legendary internal development teams. This doesn't inspire confidence.
@cookiex They are both the same. All the useful functions are the Japanese ones.
@CaviarMeths http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHCs3v_mFkM This sums it up pretty well. The world would be a much happier place without those people.
@MadAussieBloke so what happens when the market fails, you lose your job and there are no other jobs? Everybody says that, but until it has happened to you... Well, that's a different story then.
To the rest, sometimes (most of the time) when companies that really don't have a product buy other companies (to show growth, please don't question my knowledge, I cut myself from a job! So in essence, I've done this to myself.) they simply release the NON-ESSENTIAL staff... From both sides! SEGA lost some, but I bet that ATLUS lost some staff as well. It doesn't come down to "skillz".
Sad news...I've been layed off twice in my lifetime. That said, my dream news: Sega announcing Phantasy Star Online 2 for the Wii U. or 3DS. Sega cancelled their plans to bring that game to the West on the PC and Vita. PSO is still an amazing game in the hearts of Dreamcast AND Gamecube lovers. Wouldn't it be a great game series to have under the Nintendo banner?
This is what sketches me out about Sega and their localization 'efforts.' But I really just hope this isn't foreshadowing for the fate of Atlus USA.
@bezerker99 its standard in every economy.
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