SEGA PROFITS SLUMP PROMPTS STRATEGIC RETHINK

Major Sega titles to go multiformat as financial climate force the Japanese company into a platform-agnostic stance

15:39 Key Sega franchises are to go multiplatform, the company announced at a press conference in Japan. In an address given by Sega COO Satoshi Kayama, the Virtua Fighter and Sonic franchises were specifically earmarked as multiformat franchises, with the speech also hinting at current Xbox-exclusive titles being ported onto PS2 and GameCube.

Although no titles were specifically mentioned, Panzer Dragoon seems a likely candidate for a port.

Although Sega has made a profit in the first half of the fiscal year, its operating profit is down 20.3 percent on last year, with the company struggling to make the transition from hardware manufacturer to publisher. Sega specifically pointed to underachievement in the US market as a cause of its current woes.

Sega further announced that it intends to discontinue its range of sports titles on GameCube following massive under-performance in the US market compared with Xbox and PS2.

Stay tuned for further updates soon.