Sega forced to restructure after heavy losses

Poor Sega. Despite having a speedy hedgehog for a mascot, they’ve recently reported having a loss of 7.1 billion Yen (approximately 85 million USD).

They’ve released a document outlining their plan for restructuring the company. They stated the following in their PDF:

“The Consumer Business centered on SEGA CORPORATION is expected to post operating loss in the year ending March 2012, due to the challenging economic climate and significant changes in the home video game software market environment in the U.S. and Europe.
Given this circumstance, the companies determined that in order to actualize earnings recovery of the Consumer Business in the following period and after and return to a growth path, it is essential to streamline organizations in the field of home video game software in the U.S. and European markets, while shifting to a structure that corresponds to change in environment, including strengthening development in the field of digital content.”

They went on to state their methods of making up for their losses. Long story short; the company is going to be streamlined and organized better, they’re going to focus on their more successful IPs like Sonic, Aliens, Football Manager and Total War, and they’re going to manage inventory and impairment loss more efficiently. Some of their less popular titles currently in development may also be cancelled from the look of things. They’re optimistic about recovery though, stating “We expect operating expenses for the Consumer Business in the following period to decrease due to our latest efforts.”

Let’s hope they get back on track. A lot of companies have been hit hard in these rough economic times, and though at this point it seems unlikely that Sega will ever “do what Nintendon’t,” I’m sure with enough perseverance and some solid business strategies they’ll pull through.

[Gameredemption]