While Sega's parent company Sega Sammy Holdings returned to profitability during its first financial quarter of 2013, the firm's games business has been less than successful.
Sega Sammy posted an operating income of ¥5.4 billion ($69 million) for the three months ending 30 June 2012.
Its games business segment, however, posted an operating loss of ¥1.6 billion ($20 million) during the same period.
Nevertheless, the company claimed its games losses are not as straightforward as they might first look.
Going mobile
In March 2012, Sega Sammy announced a structural reform that saw the company shift its focus away from packaged games, to pursue opportunities in the smartphone and digital space instead.
So, although the company's consumer business segment has posted a loss, Sega Sammy noted that its performance actually "remained favourable in the field of digital game software for mobile phones, smartphones, and PC downloading."
"Kingdom Conquest, a title for smartphones, exceeded 3 million downloads on a cumulative basis as of June 2012, the firm confirmed.
Sega's iPhone hit Kingdom Conquest
Furthermore, the segment's loss still represents a considerable improvement on the previous year's report, which saw Sega Sammy's consumer business segment post an operating loss of almost ¥3.9 billion equal to nearly $50 million.
Feelin' weak
"In the home video game software industry, demand weakened, mainly for packaged games, due to the severe economic environment in the US and Europe," Sega Sammy explained in its report.
"Meanwhile, the Group needs to adapt to a changing business environment in which market demand for digital games geared toward social networking services and smartphones is expanding."
Sonic The Hedgehog 4: Episode II, which launched in May
To this end, Sega also made reference to the establishment of Sega Networks, which has been designed to "bolster development of the digital game software field and shifting business structure with a view to adapting to changes in the business environment."
[source: Sega Sammy (PDF)]
News
Related Articles
Top Stories
News
Apr 27th, 2024
PocketGamer.biz Podcast Week in Views E09 - Supercell's Squad Busters goes global, Embracer Group splits, and Apple's Vision Pro flops
News
Apr 26th, 2024
Week in Views - Squads busted, Apple crushed, War zoned and Snoozin' with the Snorlax…
Feature
Apr 26th, 2024
Speaker Spotlight: Dubai Future Foundation's Faisal Kazim on leading Dubai's gaming charge
Events
Esports Future Summit | Middle East | Apr 27th |
Dubai GameExpo Summit 2024 | Middle East | May 1st |
The MENA Games Industry Awards 2024 | Middle East | May 2nd |
GameDev Atlantic 2024 | May 4th | |
Mobidictum Meetup Berlin May 2024 | Europe | May 7th |
Mobidictum Meetup Tallinn May 2024 | Europe | May 21st |
Israel Mobile Summit 2024 | Middle East | Jun 6th |
DevGAMM Vilnius 2024 | Europe | Jun 14th |
Popular Stories
News
Apr 23rd, 2024
Supercell’s Squad Busters soft launches today with over 100,000 Google Play downloads
Feature
Apr 24th, 2024