SEGA claims that high review scores for their games “have yet to translate into a further increase in unit sales”

In recent years, SEGA has seen a notable rise, with many of their franchises (Sonic included) receiving both strong sales and high ratings. Unfortunately, it appears as though these numbers have not been strong enough, with the publisher claiming that “high evaluations have yet to translate into a further increase in unit sales.”

As part of the publisher’s latest fiscal earnings Q&A (collated by VGC), SEGA commented on their recent output and how players/fans have responded to these releases, stating that “we recognize that our strength lies in the relatively high acclaim we receive for quality. On the other hand, we also recognize that such high evaluations have yet to translate into a further increase in unit sales.”

Adding greater context, SEGA claimed: “While continuing to hone our development capabilities—the source of our strength—we believe there is still significant room for improvement and earnings upside in our ‘power to sell,’ namely our marketing and sales mechanisms.”

In discussing how they plan to push more units, the publisher continued: “We will strengthen data analysis to optimize digital sales pricing by region and shift our marketing focus from individual new releases to an IP-based approach, aiming to maximize sales over the long term, including repeat sales.”

As mentioned, SEGA has had a number of major and successful releases, with the Persona and Like a Dragon franchises alone contributing greatly. That said, as with most major companies, expectations are set sky high, and so it will be interesting to see what this new ‘IP-based approach’ will look like.

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KitGuru says: What do you think of SEGA’s output recently? Have they been improving? Are all publisher expectations simply too high? Let us know down below.

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