Sonic Boom

At the end of January it emerged that Sega would be restructuring its business at the cost of around 300 jobs; now that it's issued its Q3 financial results it's clarified how that'll take place. New companies will be formed that are managed by Sega Holdings, with Sega Games taking the place of Sega Corporation with a focus on the video game market.

That's the complex business currently being undertaken by Sega, with plans to complete the turnaround on 1st April. Beyond that, sales figures emerged for the company's major releases of last year, and reflect that Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric and Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal have struggled to take off. Combined reported sales so far for both titles are 490,000 units; Sonic Lost World on Wii U and 3DS sold 640,000 units in an equivalent time frame in late 2013. Overall, in fact, Sega releases on Wii U through to Q3 have only hit 210,000 units, while the equivalent 3DS figure - of the back of more releases, both retail and download - is a healthier 900,000 units. The 3DS is still set to be Sega's most lucrative platform overall, though its projected game sales for the full financial year have been reduced to 1.16 million (down from 1.38 million) units; the Wii U, grimly, is only expected to shift another 20,000 software sales in the final quarter.

Not great news for Sonic Boom, overall, with the heavily promoted spin-off franchise - which is also a TV show - struggling to convert into game sales to rival the last established series entry. It had a tough launch, however, with the Wii U game being largely panned by critics (and plenty of gamers) while the 3DS release - which was the better title - seemed to gain very little exposure.

As for silver linings, though game sales for the 3DS have seen targets dropped - systems like PS4 and Xbox One saw estimates go up - the portable is still a big part of Sega's traditional video game market. Atlus fans should breath relatively easily, too, as the Sega-acquired company is not mentioned or seemingly affected by the wider restructuring and job losses within the corporation.

Let us know what you think of all this, and what's to come for Sega, in the comments below.

[source segasammy.co.jp]