Things have just been a rollercoaster for SEGA lately, haven’t they? After rumours of buyouts, following a split from its parent company, it’s being reported that it will fully merge with Japanese pachinko company Sammy from October 1.
A report on Gamespot says that the new merged company will be led by current Sammy president, Hajime Satomi. The value of the new company will be around $3.1 billion – so, plenty of reasons for the two to join forces!
“Sega recently announced that it would be cutting its profit forecast for 2002-2003 by 90 percent, while Sammy’s sales have tripled over the last three years,” Gamespot writes. “The added financial stability provided by Sammy will help Sega focus more on its arcade business and general software development.
“Details of the merger have yet to be finalized, so it’s not currently known if the companies will be kept somewhat separate or if it will be an outright merger.”
We’ll have to keep an eye on things and wait to see if this news will change SEGA’s current business strategy. More on this as we get it.