SEGA Retrospective: SEGA of America and SEGA Europe in the modern age – a battle for relevancy

SEGA has its roots in the Western world and that influence is still ever so present today. It all started in Hawaii, went to Japan, then was bought by Gulf + Western, but then settled on Japanese ownership in 1984. But all those years of influence from Western staff and ownership never completely went away even after being staunchly Japanese for most of its life. Selling arcade machines, making your own consoles and even dabbling in in-door theme parks requires tons of investment that won’t be recouped in Japan, so it’s good to have international roots. 

SEGA acquires Two Point Studios, developer of Two Point Hospital


SEGA-Sammy has announced that Two Point Studios will be joining the SEGA Europe family.

According to the press release, this buyout came out from SEGA Europe’s Searchlight program which is a internal initiative intend to find talent and intellectual property opportunities. Expect a lot of new ‘Two Point’ franchise games in the near future:

“It’s a landmark step for Two Point Studios and we’re thrilled to be joining the Sega family, We’re looking forward to executing the next phase of our plans as we continue to evolve Two Point County. It’s a hugely exciting time to be a part of Two Point and we are here today thanks to the hard work, passion and dedication of our small, but amazingly talented team here in Farnham and the incredible fans that have supported us throughout and guided our continued development of Two Point Hospital.”Mark Webley, Two Point Studios co-founder

Two Point Studios is a brand new studio created by Mark Webley and Gary Carr who worked on titles like Theme Hospital (which Two Point Hospital is a spiritual successor), Black & White and the Fable series for Bullfrog Productions and Lionhead studios.

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SEGA to join the E3 2018 PC Gaming Show with possible reveal


With E3 2018 just around the corner, we are getting more and more information about the event coming out. Today we have learned that this year’s PC Gaming Show will have a bunch of “world premiere game announcements and teasers” from companies like SEGA, Square-Enix, Crytek, Double Fine Productions and more.

According to PC Gamer, who is putting on the E3 2018 event, they will reveals and teasers from:

SEGA starts teasing Puyo Puyo Tetris for PC release

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The other day we reported that Puyo Puyo Tetris on Nintendo Switch sold almost one million units on the platform alone. Today it seems SEGA Europe is readying for a PC release of the same game, if their teasing is anything to go by. Today a bunch of SEGA game pages updated with an announcement tease, using text symbols to draw out Puyo blobs and Tetris blocks.

Hit the jump below to see SEGA’s teases on various PC game releases and tell us what other games you would enjoy to see on your PC. Huh, SEGA Europe, if you are reading this, get Valkyria Chronicles 4 PC announced already.

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SEGA Europe publishing new game from former Quantic Dream lead’s studio Interior Night

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Coming off the heels of SEGA Europe’s Two Point Hospital publishing deal is the news that SEGA Europe will be publishing a narrative-driven game from the studio Interior Night. Interior Night is an independent game studio of Quantic Dream and Sony veterans based in London, and their website states that they have “a keen interest in narrative games with rich stories and complex characters” and cites television shows like Breaking Bad, True Detective and Fargo.

The SEGA Europe deal will see the company publishing the studio’s first game. Nothing more has been revealed, but it is worth noting that this is not an acquisition, just a publishing deal. But you never know where things could lead! After the break, read some comments from SEGA and the development team.

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SEGA Europe teases that they have “exciting projects coming up”, sharing details in 2018

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SEGA Europe has been teasing new video game projects announcements via twitter the other day. So what could these mysterious projects be? We do have some past news articles that can hint at what they have up their sleeves. For example we reported back in 2015 that The Creative Assembly was working on a “multi-platform AAA blockbuster”, which would mean their return to the console space since they released Alien Isolation back in 2014. We also know that Two Point Studios (ex-Lionhead and Bullfrog) is working with SEGA Europe on a new simulation game, which is set to be announced on January 16th. There’s also that big rumor about the Shenmue HD collection is right around the corner, one of the rumors points at the port being done by UK developer Just Add Water. If that is true, then that would mean that SEGA Europe would probably be involved in handling the project. I also hear that SEGA Europe will be in charge of handling PC ports of upcoming SEGA Japan games, so I can also see them announcing a Valkyria Chronicles 4 port for the West, considering their port of the first game has almost sold a million copies. Of course, this is just my speculation based on past news articles and rumors.

But let me hand the mic over to you, what do you want to see SEGA Europe work on? SEGA Europe has been handling most of the PC stuff, including ports of last generation games like Bayonetta, Vanquish, and even created The Typing of the Dead: Overkill. Is there any other games you want to see them port? Maybe extend their porting program to modern consoles? Sound off in the comments below.

SEGA and Two Point Studios announcing a new game on January 16

twopointstudiosSEGA and Two Point Studios (a team made up of ex-Lionhead and Bullfrog developers) have now teased a new game announcement via a twitter post telling us to check back on January 16, 2018. SEGA Europe announced their partnership with Two Point Studios back in May 30, 2017 and it seems that they have been hard at work on this new title if its going to be shown in a less than two months.

According to Two Point Studios twitter bio, the team is “Making sim games with ” . It makes sense that SEGA would try their hands at the PC sim market considering that new IPs such as Cities XXL, Cities in Motion and Cities: Skylines have carved a big chunk of the market away from EA. Not only that, they are already heading that way by purchasing the Endless Space developers, Amplitude Studios. It does seem that if they make a sim game that it will be based on something like Theme Park or Theme Hospital. But who knows at this point. While these PC games are usually aimed at another market, as a SEGA fan I actually like the brand name to grow into other markets. Plus the team being made up of people that worked on games like Theme Hospital and Fable really peaks my interest.

SEGA and Atlus E3 2017 lineup revealed

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SEGA and Atlus have officially announced their lineup for E3 2017, and while there are no major surprises there is a diverse lineup of great looking games! Yakuza and Sonic take center stage, with Yakuza 6, Sonic Mania and Sonic Forces on display. Atlus, meanwhile, will have 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim, Etrian Odyssey V, Radient Historia: Perfect Chronology and Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey Redux to play. SEGA Europe also has a booth, where they will have Total War: WARHAMMER II and additional Sonic Mania and Sonic Forces kiosks.

Worth noting, the upcoming Valkyria Revolution and Yakuza Kiwami appear to have no representation at this year’s booth. Valkyria Revolution makes some sense, as the game is due out in just three weeks, but Yakuza Kiwami is due out in two months. A kiosk for the game would have been nice, but it appears SEGA wants to focus on 2018’s Yakuza 6 which is a bigger game for the company.

SEGAbits writers will be attending E3, so expect coverage from us from the show floor. After the break, check out the full press release!

SEGA Europe COO and President Jurgen Post departs

JurgenPostLeavesSEGASEGA Europe has announced that Jurgen Post has left his position in the company as COO and President. Before Jurgen Post got his title as COO and President at SEGA Europe, he worked as managing director and senior vice president.

Jurgen Post was responsible for taking over as COO and President in 2012 where he streamlined SEGA Europe’s pillar structure which included Creative Assembly, Sports Interactive and moving SEGA more into the PC market place. He was also responsible for the latest wave of older SEGA PC ports which included Bayonetta and Vanquish.

“Jurgen leaving us is a huge loss, but he leaves Sega Europe with the business in a fantastic position and in the capable hands of a superb team who will strive to keep moving it forward. We wish Jurgen all the very best for the future and in his new role and hope that his employees there will find him as inspirational and as motivating as we did here.” – Tatsuyuki Miyazaki, SEGA West CEO

Its a bit weird that this just came out, seeing that not even 24 hours ago Jurgen Post gave a interview with GamesIndustry.biz where he said, “The Sega brand will come back and start to flourish again”. Hopefully he is right, but it will be sad to take this ride without him.

Until they find a replacement, SEGA Europe’s CFO John Ward will act as interim COO as the publisher looks for a replacement. What are your thoughts on this news? Do you think its all of a sudden? Let us know in the comments below.

[Source: MCVUK]

SEGA promotes James Schall to VP of digital business

JamesSchallVPDigitalBusinessSEGA Europe has announced that they have promoted James Schall to vice president of its digital business from previously being director of digital distribution where he increased SEGA’s digital business success across consoles and PCs. As VP of digital business, James Schall will work with a growing number of third party studios to launch SEGA’s upcoming catalog of digital titles.

“James has made a huge contribution to Sega’s growth over recent years and I’m delighted by his promotion. With this appointment we are well positioned to continue our initiatives and further strengthen the fantastic partner and studio relationships we have.” – John Clark Senior VP of Commercial Publishing at SEGA

SEGA’s recent digital game successes include the release of Bayonetta, launching Warhammer: Dawn of War III and Total War: Warhammer 2.  SEGA also recently announced that they will be reviving their older IPs on their ‘road to 2020’, but those are set to be packaged games, while I wouldn’t be shocked if some of those are digital.

“I’m excited by the new role as it will enable me to work more closely with our development studios, continuing to focus on delivering our amazing content to our passionate fans and communities.” – James Schall, VP of Digital Games SEGA Europe

I think SEGA Europe’s digital branch has been kicking ass on their releases, my only complaint is that they don’t come fast enough. Though we are getting Vanquish PC port a month after Bayonetta, that’s an improvement. I hope James Schall really does look into what ‘passionate fans and communities‘ want. Maybe look at some sort of list conducted by votes from SEGA fans… Like some sort of Top 100 SEGA games list

[Source: MCVUK]

Persona 5 debuts at #1 on the UK software charts

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Persona 5 is celebrating the biggest launch in the franchises history, already claiming to have shipped over 1.5 million units world wide and now its also the best selling game in the UK in the latest UK software charts. check out the top ten games sold in the UK during the week, it was stiff competition but Persona 5 pulled through.

  1. Persona 5
  2. Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Wildlands
  3. LEGO Worlds
  4. Grand Theft Auto V
  5. Mass Effect: Andromeda
  6. FIFA 17
  7. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
  8. Lego City Undercover
  9. Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare
  10. Overwatch

Persona 5 is the only JRPG to hit the number one spot in the UK Software Charts since 2013’s Ni no Kuni on the PlayStation 3. Even the massively hyped Final Fantasy XV didn’t hit the top spot on the UK charts, it fell short at number #2. While The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild wasn’t a JRPG, that game also only hit #2 in the UK charts thanks to the massive success of PlayStation 4’s Horizon Zero Dawn. It would seem that SEGA buying Index holdings, owner of Atlus publishing, was the right move for the company.

How long do you think Persona 5 will chart in the UK software charts? Let us know in the comments below.

[via: Siliconera]

SEGA Europe Community Manager Dan Sheridan leaves company

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It is a sad day for those of us in the SEGA fan community who liked shouting “WOO!”. SEGA Europe’s Community Manager Dan Sheridan, who joined the company in September of 2015, is leaving SEGA today. From reading his tweets, Dan will be taking a job in the world of VR, so it’s not game over. Dan is notable for becoming the face of SEGA Europe and for rebooting the SEGA Central video series following a rocky transition that affected both American and European offices of the company. Thanks for your service to our favorite company and best of luck from all of us at SEGAbits, Dan!

After the break, check out Dan’s introduction video from when he started his job at SEGA.

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Check out SEGA & Atlus’ E3 2017 booths

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If you are going to E3 2017, you will probably want to know where SEGA & Atlus’ booths will be located and thanks to the floor plans leaking over at NeoGAF we now know where to go. SEGA & Atlus’ E3 2017 booths will be located in the West Exhibit Hall, right next to Sony and Nintendo’s massive booths. It also seems that the American SEGA & Atlus’ E3 2017 booths will be shared and SEGA Europe will be having their own booth. Oddly enough it seems that SEGA Europe’s booth is slight larger than the shared both from their American counterpart.

I’d check out the NeoGAF post showing other booths to see how SEGA & Atlus’ E3 2017 booths compare to the competition. One weird thing is that it seems most of SEGA’s upcoming games are coming out before E3, maybe SEGA has some new announcements before the show takes place. We do know they have a rumored Shenmue I & II HD Remasters. 🤔

SEGA 3D Classics Collection European release date revealed

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On a special SEGA Central Live, the SEGA Europe community team released the long (too long, in our opinion) awaited release date of the boxed and digital European release of SEGA 3D Classics Collection for the Nintendo 3DS. That date… will be revealed on an upcoming live stream next week! Just kidding, the game will release to Europe on November 4th, 2016.

It was also confirmed that the game is coming to Australia, though no additional information was given.

SEGA Central Doing Live Show on August 12th

SEGA Europe’s SEGA Central show will be doing a live broadcast on August 12, 2016 at 8:30 AM PST. The show promises to finally reveal the release date for SEGA 3D Classics Collection in Europe, plus talk about the latest going on with SEGA and Dan (SEGA Central host) will answer people’s questions that have been sent in.

While it doesn’t seem like SEGA Central will have something mind blowing, like a new game announcement, it is still nice that SEGA Europe are doing these types of shows. So make sure to tune in and support the show.

 

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