Remember Sega, that company that made those games about a blue hedgehog? Their fortunes, already a far cry from the glory days of the Genesis, took a turn for the worst when they announced an 'extraordinary loss' of over 7 billion yen, or around $86 million, and undisclosed layoffs and cancellations, according to Joystiq.
Sega of America said in a statement that the company would “consolidate its publishing business in order to focus on developing digital content and driving its existing IP such as Sonic the Hedgehog, Total War, Football Manager and the Alien franchise.” That leaves a lot of Sega IP unaccounted for.
Sega's statement does its best to sound optimistic, saying that the changes will “position Sega as a content led organization, maximizing sales with a strong and balanced IP portfolio across both packaged and digital distribution.” Hopefully this means that Sega will put all of its effort into using its strongest IP to develop the highest quality games that it can, while dropping its less successful (we hate to say this, but it's true) shovelware businesses.
It's going to be interesting to see how this one plays out. Sega has been through tough times before, but it seems like they've never managed to fully come out of the nosedive that began with the premature death of the Dreamcast. We're either about to see a great comeback, or the sad end of a titan as it spirals into oblivion.
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