Another quarter has come to an end, and SEGASammy has relayed the details on how the company has performed in the fiscal year of 2021.
The Sonic the Hedgehog franchise continues to prove itself as a top earner for SEGA, with a cumulative total of 4.4 million units sold, up by 700,000 units when compared to the previous quarter. Once again, the series has taken the top billing when comparing the numbers to other franchises, though the listings are not indicative of a power ranking.
For the fourth time in a row, the amount of units sold have increased. Among the titles that helped the series reach those numbers were Sonic Generations, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games – Tokyo 2020 and Team Sonic Racing.
| Series | Approx. Unit Sales | Titles |
| Sonic the Hedgehog | 4.4 million | Team Sonic Racing (May 2019) Sonic Mania (August 2017) Sonic Generations (December 2011) Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games – Tokyo 2020 (November 2019), etc. |
| Total War | 4 million | Total War: SHOGUN 2 (March 2011) Total War: ROME II (September 2013) Total War: WARHAMMER (September 2017) Total War: Three Kingdoms (May 2019), etc. |
| Football Manager | 3.8 million | Football Manager 2021 (November 2020) Football Manager 2020 (November 2019) Football Manager 2020 Mobile (November 2019) Football Manager 2021 Mobile (November 2020) |
| Persona | 3 million | Persona 5 Strikers (February 2020) Persona 4 Golden (June 2020) Persona 5 Royal (October 2019) Persona 5 (September 2016), etc. |
| Other | – | Endless Space2 (May 2017) Alien: Isolation (October 2014) YAKUZA: LIKE A DRAGON (January 2020) Two Point Hospital (August 2018), etc. |
SEGA has expressed that these strong sale numbers were thanks to a myriad of factors. Among them were the fact that people had to spend most of their times in their houses due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the increase of titles being purchased through digital means, rather than physical.
The corporation also pointed out that games recently released also performed well, with titles like Persona 5 Strikers, YAKUZA: LIKE A DRAGON and Football Manager 2021. Free-to-play games were stated to have performed “strongly well”, and mentioned titles like Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World – Lost in Memories and Project SEKAI COLORFUL STAGE! feat. Hatsune Miku.
SEGA and its future
SEGA expressed some of its plans for the future, in short term and long term. The company said that it expects the game market to pass through a big revitalization on a global scale, opening a new opportunity for SEGA to globalize their existing slate of properties.
Vision for the next three years
- Breaking the Current Situation and Becoming a Sustainable Company;
- Going Beyond the Status Quo.
Management Policy
- Shift the management policy to one focusing on capital efficiency.
Key Strategies
- An investment in growth to consumer field;
- Stabilization of profit of Pachislot and Pachinko Machines Business;
- Realization of the first Japan IR;
- Balancing investment in growth with shareholder return;
- Promotion of ESG and SDGs.
SEGASammy also confirmed that a slight decrease in profit is expected to happen in the next quarter, as the result to “an expected reactionary drop in demand following the impact of consumption from staying at home in the previous fiscal year”. But there is also an expected increase in “amortization of development expenses and marketing expenses associated with the launch of major new titles”.
