Sega is selling 85% of its arcade business to another arcade company in Japan

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In a recent press release, Sega announced that it sold 85% of its arcade business to Genda, another arcade company in Japan. According to the press release, they blame the “extraordinary losses” caused by the coronavirus pandemic for the sale. 

The arcade business took a massive hit because of the ongoing tourism ban and stay-at-home orders. Even though there are some signs of recovery, Sega remained unconvinced and decided this was the best course of action.

Genda will complete the takeover of Sega Sammy Holdings at some point at the end of December. They will become owners of over 193 video game arcades in Japan. However, Genda announced plans to keep Sega’s arcade branding, at least for the foreseeable future.  

In an interview with Famitsu, Sega’s PR people said that the company would keep developing arcade games. It’s just that they plan to be more focused on mobile and console games. 

The company also said that the intention is not to profit from the sale. Quite the opposite, they expect to count their losses, which is something that shareholders won’t enjoy hearing. 

READ MORE: Sega is actually bringing back Jet Set Radio and Crazy Taxi

Simultaneously, even though the sale will disappoint much of its massive fan base, it seems quite logical for the company to get rid of its classical physical business. Plus, it seems Sega doesn’t think that this segment of their business will ever fully recover, even after the pandemic ends. 

On the other hand, this change won’t affect the customers much, at least not any time soon as all Sega arcade centers will be operational, the Sega branding will remain in place, and Sega will still be developing new arcade games. It’s just that Genda will run the business. 

What do you think? Surprised to see Sega making this move? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

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Deep Ballu