Shuji Utsumi, the Chief Operating Officer of Sega, mentioned to CNBC that the organization is considering leveraging its rewarding intellectual property on other platforms. Such platforms include film, mobile, and the gaming platform Roblox. Utsumi indicated that Sega is seeking to take advantage of the accomplishments of its films Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic the Hedgehog 2.
Following the success of Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog movie adaptation, the company has indicated its intention to build on that success with other blockbuster video games in its portfolio. Speaking to CNBC's Arjun Kharpal at the Web Summit tech conference in Libson, Portugal on Tuesday, Sega Chief Operating Officer Shuji Utsumi said the organization is considering transferring more of its lucrative intellectual property to other mediums, such as movies and Roblox. Utsumi remarked that "Sonic is reviving," referring to the movie's box office success despite initial backlash from fans over an ill-received initial design of the beloved character. Sonic the Hedgehog amassed 306.8 million dollars in box office earnings, and Sonic the Hedgehog 2 even outdid that, reaching 405.4 million dollars.
Sega is hoping to replicate their success with other game adaptations. Utsumi mentioned that this potentially could take the form of something other than movies, such as bringing Sonic to the Roblox platform or mobile devices. The acquisition of Rovio, producer of the Angry Birds mobile game, for 706 million euros, is their latest move in this direction. "We have other significant IPs," he said. "We are also considering resurrecting other classical IPs."
Utsumi highlighted the Yakuza beat 'em up and Persona role-playing franchises as potential subjects for adaptation. Sega is gearing up to release Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth for the Yakuza series in 2021, and two new Persona offerings are due in 2024. Utsumi said, “We are striving to branch out to various fields, like Roblox and movies. Therefore, our IPs can soon reach a place other than video games.”
Sega recently unveiled the newest version of Yakuza, which has sold a total of 21.1 million copies globally since it was first released in 2005. Persona 5, the latest Yakuza installment, is also proving to be quite popular with over 9 million sales worldwide. The Yakuza titles are accessible on PlayStation, Xbox and PC, while Persona is playable on Xbox, PlayStation, PC and Nintendo Switch.
Utsumi stated that Sega is on the lookout for more acquisitions in an effort to increase its control of gaming studios. He went on to note that the company will take advantage of any potential opportunities in the market. Additionally, Utsumi commented that European gaming studios are going through a hard time as they work to recover from the decrease in sales after the pandemic, as gamers emerged from lockdown and high inflation deterred them from buying higher-priced titles. He finished by saying that Japan studios are still doing well, but that European developers are currently facing challenges, as it is an "adjustment time" from the former bubble.
He remained positive for the future, noting: "As long as you have solid development studios and also solid IPs, I think it's going to be coming back." Sega is not alone in the attempt to mirror the success of highly successful entertainment products; Sony, Sega's primary competitor in Japan, accomplished this with their Spider-Man movie franchise, which they have converted into a few blockbuster video games.
Speaking to CNBC, Utsumi debunked the rumours of Microsoft's potential interest in Sega, with the Verge having previously reported on the Redmond, Washington technology giant's alleged plans to acquire the company earlier this year. Allegedly, the plan had come to light in internal documents from the Federal Trade Commission's legal battle to prevent Microsoft from buying Activision Blizzard.
Utsumi made clear that the current owner of Sega, Sega Sammy Corporation, which was formed in 2004 from the merger of Sega and Sammy Corporation, had no desire to sell. "We feel honoured that many companies are interested in us. We have high quality IPs and great potential. We have a strong ownership and that kind of transaction is not likely to happen," the Sega operations chief declared.
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