After 56 years, what feels like a lifetime in the video game industry, SEGA has withdrawn from the arcade industry in its native territory of Japan. This news was reported by Yakuza fansite The Tojo Dojo, before being followed up on by Eurogamer. Of course, the Yakuza fanbase has a vested interest in this news, as Club Sega has been a staple of the franchise since its first entry offering popular Japanese arcade games like UFO Catcher and Taiko Drum Master.
This news stated that SEGA is selling all remaining shares they had in the arcade operations to Japanese amusement rental business Genda Inc. Previously in November 2020 the company had sold 85.1% of their shares in the Sega Entertainment division, which handled their arcade division, to Genda Inc. for an undisclosed sum. This news indicates that Genda will now be taking the remaining 14.9% percent and rebranding these locations accordingly.
In a tweet from Genda Chairman Takashi Kataoka, it was stated that all these locations will now be branded as GiGO, which is an acronym for “Get into the Gaming Oasis.” The Akihabara, Shinjuku, and recently re-opened Ikibukuro locations are set to be the first to be rebranded.
Translated through Google translate, the tweet from Genda Chairman Kataoka roughly translates to “We thank Sega for its 56-year history and hope that it will be an oasis that will satisfy people’s thirst with realistic entertainment.”
The SEGA decision to remove from the arcade business, selling the majority of their shares, was heavily impacted by the effects of Covid-19 on the country of Japan. Several stay-at-home orders and state of emergencies took a heavy toll on the arcade market with SEGA hit hard by this as well.
During this time SEGA also stated they planned to invest more in its console and PC sales. PC, in particular, has been stated to be a larger part of their strategy moving forward, with Yakuza spin-off Lost Judgement potentially ending the Judgement series due to Johnny Entertainments’ refusal to allow the likeness of lead actor Takuya Kimura’s likeness for a PC release.
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