SEGA shuts down SEGA Studios/Secret Level

[ROJM_old]

Eh, also Secret Level was dying anyway, SEGA mismanaged them and TBH they were just alive due to the sales of Iron Man. I'm sure SEGA decided it was cheaper to outsource the game instead of having a team to make the game.

Secret Level was dead when Golden Axe failed to meet target sales.

Select few were moved into Sega SanFrancisco Studio (SS SF), it was largely a new studio.

In order to objectively evaluate the closure seperate them from Seret Level. The studios redemption was not in IM2 rather it would've been in GA2 which now is gone, again.

In SL's defence I would also like to add that our beloved Sumo Digital also started off as a studio only good for ports and slowly evolved over years almost a decade so just because your a studio who only does ports does not automoatically make you inferior, I think what destroyed the studio was a lack off a functional business model and lack of supervision from the parent company, which was allegedly rectified with SS SF.

The company wasn't closed down just because of GAXE, it wasn't really considered to be a big game at sega, which is why it didn't get pushed heavily. Part of this IMHO is personal, all of SJ's buisness contracts at sega has been systematically shut down or cancelled by Hayes since he took over. Luckly for him though half of these projects happened to be in dev hell.

[George]

Yeah Golden Axe was not a big game for SEGA. They basically 'hid it under a rug' till the last few months it was coming out, then they starting posting screens online and other tids of info.

[ROJM_old]

Yeah Golden Axe was not a big game for SEGA. They basically 'hid it under a rug' till the last few months it was coming out, then they starting posting screens online and other tids of info.

probably, or the fact it wasn't a big franchise for them. Apparently when they were shopping these Ips to western studios GAXE was a low priority as far as SOA were concerned,but they were taken aback on how fondly the game was remembered and the reaction it got when they showed a teaser trailer at E3. But even by that time they knew the game was a stinker. its not like HOTD Overkill,Bayonetta and Alpha Protocol,AVP wehich got running commentary on a near daily basis from Sega from the day those games were announced to the time they were released. Anyway at least they still have Sl middleware tech so it wasn't a complete loss.

[George]

What does their tech do? Cuz the games they have made have looked like complete shit.

[ROJM_old]

It was supposed to be one of the best middle ware around at the time, enough to get Sony's favour in commending it which is probably why jeffery brought them in the first place so he could position Sega as the go to go with MS and Sony. it kinda worked but not with SL.