Sega of America has announced major restructuring, leading to dropping 300 jobs, and a shift to mobile and PC, as they also plan to move offices from San Francisco to California.
The changes are occurring after a business analysis by the Group Structure Reform Division, for the very purpose of streamlining operations. Sega will look for mostly voluntary retirement, with many personnel moving into digital games.
Interestingly, Sonic seems to be somewhat safe. Sega’s plans also include reinforcing the Sonic and merchandising businesses in such a way that it can generate stable profits. This may be the decision coming after positive reception to the Sonic Boom animated series, which has proven popular in spite of the poor state of theSonic Boom games on Wii U and 3DS. Whether this means we'll still see Sonic All-Stars Racing, Sonic Boom, or other Sonic games remains to be seen.
In terms of merchandising, we do know that Sega is looking into adapting other IPs into films and TV shows after Sonic Boom. Perhaps the time is ripe to bring Streets of Rage to the big screen.
What games seem to be affected? Yakuza, for example, may not be leaving Japan anymore. Alien Isolation’s success, as well, may not necessarily lead to Sega making new games with the IP in the future. Creative Assembly’s Total War series, on the other hand, may have a secure PC-only future.
Former employees are already chiming in on Glassdoor on bad experiences with the company. While most agree that camaraderie with coworkers was a positive experience, allegations of racism, favoritism, and general poor management. While these anonymous reviews may be colored by recent layoffs, it also seems possible that the situation in Sega behind the scenes was worse than it appeared, something fans suspected since rumors about Sonic Boom’s troubled development came out.
