Sega is planning to close its European and Australian offices in order to focus on its four key IPs: Aliens, Sonic, Football Manager and Total War.
“At the moment, for us, those four IPs we are talking about, they are our AAA IP,” Sega Europe’s chief operating officer Jurgen Post explained, speaking to GamesIndustry International.
“At the moment, we are looking into options of course, but it’s not like we are already developing some other titles in addition to that, no.”
“It’s a focus on those four core IP, and in addition that we’ll have digital. And digital still means 50 – 75 releases every year, so that’s still a big number.”
Relationships with Banquish, Bayonetta and PlatinumGames, all key areas of Sega’s business, were not discussed.
The offices are set to close “towards the end of the year” in France, Germany, Spain, Australia and Benelux.
Distribution in Europe is being moved to Koch Media, while new starter Level 3.5 Star Games is gearing up to handle Australia.
“The big IPs are becoming bigger,” Post added.
“Whether that’s FIFA, Call Of Duty or Assassin’s Creed, those titles are just becoming bigger and bigger and it’s harder and harder to break into the market with new IP. And there’s a big transition at the moment.”
“It’s still a fantastic business,” he stressed, “because if you combine everything it’s massive and it’s growing. But we had to make the changes we are making right now, in order to be better prepared for the future.”
Rumor has it that Sega will announce a new Total War game sometime next week.
