SEGA Australia lays off 37 people

If you guys recall, SEGA was hiring and opening studios in SEGA Australia like they were giving them away. Their SEGA Australia team sadly didn’t deliver hits, releasing the low selling Stormrise. SEGA is restructuring SEGA Australia to focus on digital releases.

“The rise of digital gaming provides an opportunity to align the studio with a rapidly growing market at a time when the games industry is undergoing a significant transition. To this end, we can confirm that SSA has signed a multi-product deal focussing across the digital marketplace. We have commenced development on these titles and will announce more details in the near future. As part of this focus on digital avenues, there is a requirement to re-structure the studio resources accordingly and regrettably, we are announcing the loss of 37 staff. The decision to downsize was not taken lightly but this strategic re-structure will ensure we have a more effective and agile team that will enable us to quickly adapt to consumer needs and deliver strong content across multiple digital platforms. We thank those team members affected for their contributions and wish them well in their future endeavours.” – SEGA to Kotaku

SEGA Studios Australia is the developer doing the upcoming London 2012 Olympic Games. They stated that the development on that title is nearing completion. The studio has signed a mutli-product deal that will mean releasing games for a digital marketplace. The details and titles are yet to be revealed.

SEGA fires 73 workers, expanding digital content


SEGA has let go of 73 of its employees today, all part of their business reorganization as they move on focusing on social and digital games. 36 of the employees are from SEGA’s San Francisco branch and 37 from London. SEGA of America is said to be working exclusively on downloadable content int their newly formed digital division, while SEGA of Europe will act as the administrative hub, also handle console and PC games.

“In recent years, digital platforms have taken an increasing share of video gaming revenues and we believe this growth is set to continue, SEGA has already enjoyed commercial success within this new and exciting gaming medium and it is now the company’s intention to fully embrace change and set a strategy not only to maximize revenues within the digital space but, through innovation and quality, take up a leadership position.”

Mike Hayes says this is just Chapter 2 in SEGA’s continued evolution from being a hardware manufacturer.