A lot of news about the financial situation of many videogame publishers hit the net yesterday. After the news on Nintendo, Sony and others, it’s now the turn of Sega Sammy.
During the fiscal quarter ending on June 30, Sega Sammy has lost $49.9 million. This is mostly due to less games being sold during that period of time, especially in the U.S. and Europe, according to Sega. They also want to adapt more to the social and smartphone gaming, since titles like Kingdom Conquest seem to work out fine for them. Their pachinko machines also bring in a solid amount of cash .
No real surprises for me in there, since Sega hasn’t released many big titles during that quarter. The shift to iOS and social gaming is a smart move and could bring in some great profits.
[Source: Joystiq]
That’s a lot of cash…yeesh I hope Sega can bounce back
*Sigh* It’s like I’m forced to buy a smartphone now. Of course, I see no problem with Sega trying to establish themselves in the app market (nearly $50 million lost!?), but I just wish certain developers weren’t so hell-bent on developing everything for the app market. They should at least create a different version of the game on another console, for gamers who don’t use apps.
Should be a rosier outcome later in the year with Sonic Generations, Anarchy Reigns, Shinobi, Rise of Nightmares, House of the Dead Overkill, etc. but that’s a pretty staggering loss considering SEGA seemed to be doing pretty good the entire year before that. So we know for sure Yakuza 4 is not a system seller!