Sega: Lay-offs help aim for "leadership position" in "digital space"
Sega Europe has issued a statement on its restructuring plan, saying dropping 73 staff across both its London and San Francisco offices will allow it to focus on the "exciting" world of discless media.
Sega confirmed yesterday that 36 employees in San Francisco and 37 in London are to lose their jobs as the company realigns its strategy.
Said the firm just now:
As of today SEGA will implement a re-organisation of its businesses within the American and EMEA markets. The restructure reflects both the changing face of the global video games market and a need to improve efficiencies within the operation.
In recent years, digital platforms have taken an increasing share of video gaming revenues and we believe this growth is set to continue. SEGA has already enjoyed commercial success within this new and exciting gaming medium and it is now the company’s intention to fully embrace change and set a strategy not only to maximise revenues within the digital space but, through innovation and quality, take up a leadership position. Therefore, the company will be creating a new Digital division which will be based out of SEGA’s San Francisco offices. In a similar move to drive efficiencies for the company, SEGA’s London office will now act as a hub for the traditional console and PC side of the business.
As a consequence of this re-organisation, the company has made the reluctant decision to reduce headcount by 36 employees in the San Francisco offices and 37 in London.
The management team are confident that these necessary steps will benefit the company and allow it to continue to grow and adapt to the rapidly changing market.
More details of the restructured organisation will be given over the coming weeks.
Backstage chatter this morning has said the news is "hardly a surprise," with there having been clear signals in the past week that bad tidings were imminent.