Please support Game Informer. Print magazine subscriptions are less than $2 per issue
Sega Drops Profit Forecast For Fiscal Year By 89.5 Percent
Sega has announced significant changes to its current year fiscal performance. The company is dropping expectations across the board for the year ending March 31, 2016.
While sales are only dropping by 15.5 percent from ¥420 billion ($3.4 billion) to ¥355 billion ($2.9 billion). Operating income forecast has been reduced by 60 percent from ¥25 billion ($203 million) to ¥10 billion ($81.2 million). Profits are expected to plummet from original expectations by 89.5 percent from ¥19 billion ($154 million) to ¥2 billion ($16.2 million).
Sega pins the dramatic differences on two key areas. Pachinko and pachislot machine sales are exceedingly weak. The publisher will be restructuring that division.
Digital game software has also been the source of trouble. The company suggests that the Japanese market is becoming much more difficult, and development time is lengthening. There are also titles that did not launch on time (like Sonic Boom: Fire and Ice on 3DS and Persona 5) and others that underperformed (like the first two Sonic Boom games).
[Source: Sega]
Our Take
These dramatic decreases signal ongoing challenges at the publisher. Sega has recently had to move its American headquarters and, in the process laid off staff. The company still has strong properties, but it’s clear that the business model needs to be updated to reflect changing times.
I’d like to ask you to support Game Informer’s continued coverage of games with a subscription. For less than two dollars per issue, we mail you a full year of 10 print magazines, each with cover stories and preview features filled with exclusive details about the most exciting upcoming games. We profile and interview game creators. We look back on the rich history of gaming, and we celebrate what’s next.
Here on the website, we offer much of our content for free, including game reviews, daily news, videos, event coverage, and more – all with minimal ads.
We do so with a small editorial team, alongside contributing paid writers from around the world – over 65 individuals from 9 countries around the world, just in the last couple of years.
It’s not possible without support.
In a time when game makers and games coverage have faced hard struggles and layoffs, the future of this 30+ year magazine and community is at risk. Our new standalone magazine subscription is the number one way you can keep us alive – and we believe you’ll get a pretty fantastic gaming magazine in your mailbox every few weeks for your trouble.
Thank you.
