Nintendo has announced that Jet Force Gemini is the next game set to be added to Switch Online’s Nintendo 64 library.
02.11.2023 - 17:41 / eurogamer.net / Best
Sega has had its best financial performance for a decade, reporting total net sales this year of ¥389.6bn.
The figures come as part of a complete report into Sega Sammy's 2023. Financial figures show from 2014 — 2023, with the past year having the highest figures of all for net sales, operating income, and ordinary income across the entire business.
Sega Sammy reports consolidated sales grew «significantly» by 21.4 percent, owing to growth in its Pachinko Business and Entertainment Contents Business (games and films).
Much of the success appears to be attributed to sales of Sonic Frontiers and box office takings for Sonic the Hedgehog 2. The Sonic series has now sold over 1.66bn units and downloads, up from 1.5bn this time last year.
In addition, the Like a Dragon series has sold 21.3m units (though this year's Like a Dragon: Ishin was a more niche game for series fans), and the Persona series has sold 17.7m units.
The success of the Sonic series appears to be inspiring the company, as it aims to capitalise on its other popular IPs. Indeed, Sega's co-COO Shuji Utsumi described the company as «a kind of Treasure Island» as it plans to revive a succession of legacy IPs.
As Sega Sammy CEO Haruki Satomi noted, however, these success stories are all from the Japanese side of the business.
«In the mainstay Consumer area, new Japan-based titles such as Sonic Frontiers and Persona 5 Royal (Remaster) are enjoying significant sales growth overseas,» he said. «On the other hand, the sales of new Europe-based titles that we had looked for failed to materialise, shedding a light on some issues.»
This is, seemingly, referencing the cancellation of looter shooter Hyenas last month from Creative Assembly.
Satomi continued: «In today's game market, users increasingly tend to read numerous reviews and media information before they buy a game. Talked-about titles with high ratings can record phenomenal sales worldwide, but we see a growing number of cases where sales are sluggish for games that fail to catch the attention of users. The key to making hit games that generate huge sales is to create games that offer new, never before-seen experiences, increase engagement with users, and get widely talked about.»
Utsumi also referenced Sega's «Super Game» as he looked to the future, something that was first mentioned in last year's report. Then, it was described as a «large-scale global title» with the aim of attracting streamers, targeting a release by the fiscal year ending March 2026.
Now, Utsumi noted the company is «making steady headway» with the ambitious project. «As the name implies, a 'Super Game' involves the concept of a game that stands head and shoulders above normal games,» he said. «I encourage
Nintendo has announced that Jet Force Gemini is the next game set to be added to Switch Online’s Nintendo 64 library.
Nintendo 64 – Nintendo Switch Online will add Jet Force Gemini on November 30, Nintendo announced.
With another new weekend comes another fresh batch of streaming recommendations, so you can sit back, kick your feet up, and be safe in the knowledge that there's no shortage of movies and TV shows to watch.
It’s always ironic when a game that had superior success to anything that came before isn’t almost immediately followed up by a sequel confirmation or a sequel that arrives a few years later. In the case of Atlus, fans have been waiting for YEARS for the arrival of Persona 6. After all, the 5th entry didn’t just do incredibly well; it helped redefine the RPG genre in certain ways and got eyeballs on the franchise like never before! Not to mention, it was nominated for a slew of awards, including Game of the Year in 2017! So the fact that the 6th entry isn’t here yet, almost seven years later, is mind-boggling.
Sega of America has been accused of attempting to lay off staff in response to their bargaining efforts.
Sonic and Persona publisher Sega has been accused of threatening some of its unionised workers with layoffs, and is now facing an unfair labour practice complaint filed by the Communications Workers of America.
SEGA Chief Operating Officer Shuji Utsumi spoke with CNBC at the recent Web Summit technology conference in Lisbon. The COO tackled a variety of topics, including the acquisition rumors that followed Microsoft's interest in the Japanese company. However, Utsumi-san dismissed the notion of a buyout:
Back in August of this year, it was announced that Sega of America employees would be forming a union—the Allied Employees Guild Improving Sega (AEGIS-CWA)—alongside the Campaign to Organise Digital Employees (CODE-CWA).
Japanese games giant Sega is apparently looking to expand its operations.
Sega is targeting more acquisitions and not looking to sell up, despite interest from “many” companies.
Sonic has been enjoying renewed popularity in recent years thanks to the two Sonic the Hedgehog movies that have become some of the highest-grossing video game adaptations. Sega hopes to capitalize on this by bringing more of its franchises to a non-gaming audience.
Sega has said it’s keen to expand the reach of its biggest franchises beyond video games.