Here we go again! There has been a lot of speculation over the past six to twelve months that Microsoft might be interested in acquiring SEGA, and that speculation has just started up once again.
It's the result of an organisational restructure by the Japanese firm, in which its video game and amusement divisions are splitting, and CCO Toshihiro Nagoshi is shifting into the position of creative director as of the 1st of April.
"SEGA SAMMY group (the Group) has been working on structural reform to transform its business structure to adapt to the external environment."
Where does Xbox come into this? As our sister site Nintendo Life highlights, some folks are already jumping to a conclusion, pointing out this might be a move to make a potential acquisition as smooth as possible in the future.
Ultimately though, this is all purely speculation for now, and there are no clear signs at this point to suggest an acquisition is on the cards. Nevertheless, it's certainly getting people talking on social media...
Do you think this is indicative of anything? Give us you thoughts down in the comments.
[source segasammy.co.jp, via nintendolife.com, resetera.com]
Comments 18
The reason I keep thinking Sega is the sell-off of the arcade business, since it's the kind of segment MS would find cumbersome to aquire.
Also food for thought: they don't have to buy all of Sega Sammy Group. SSG might just sell off their video game software business, while keeping all their other businesses: entertainment, amusement parks, pachinko, etc.
I just don’t think this would be good for the industry. There are too many games tied up on each platform for one platform holder to own them. It’ll just result in headaches as they navigate existing deals.
@nessisonett this will be true for any large purchase MS makes.
With Google, Amazon and Facebook joining the fight no company is safe. I'd rather either MS or Sony have the most prominent game companies in their portfolio than the greedy corpos who don't care about games and gamers, only money.
If Microsoft acquires Sega — and I think that's a big "if" — hopefully we'll get a new Shining Force game, a Phantasy Star Online game with splitscreen co-op (like on the GamCube and Dreamcast), a new Golden Axe game (maybe with procedurally-generated levels?), and a new Beyond Oasis game (maybe with gameplay inspired in-part by Breath of the Wild). New Panzer Dragoon, NiGHTS, Ecco, and House of the Dead games would also be welcome.
Well, a man can dream... a man can dream...
@gollumb82 Agreed. We're currently right in the middle of an arms race between major companies in terms of acquisitions. Everyone's trying to buy up everything and I'd rather it be the company that I support than the companies that I don't care about at all.
I'm all for Microsoft purchasing Sega, if only to prevent the nightmare future in which Tencent owns a stake in EVERY videogame company.
At this point just buy them to stop the speculation and give us them sonic games on GP. Now if you own the gaming division do you own the IP as far as gaming only? Who owns the movie rights? I expect a Sonic 2 with tails in it at some point.
I don't necessarily think this is indicative one way or the other. It could be taken as a sign of impending sale and transition over to another owner, or it could be taken as a sign of restructuring to be in a better position to take Sega forward under its own leadership.
Its no secret that MS and Sega have had a good connection with Sega asking MS to make the OG Xbox backwards compatible with the Dreamcast and of course Sega released games on Xbox. It makes sense that IF MS had the chance, acquiring SEGA would be a no brainer and easy to see why it gets mentioned a lot.
I'm at the point where I wouldn't be surprised if it did happen - about the same as if it didn't - just because of the number of discussions about it over the past year or so. It would be great as a Game Pass Ultimate subscriber of course and the next few years or should start to see all the other studio's releasing games.
OMG, It would be crazy if Xbox acquired Sega. Just imagine Xbox owning Sega, That might even be bigger than Bethesda..
The thing with SEGA is the vast variety of developers and IPs they would gain.
Lots of family friendly games, some Japanese games such as Yakuza, Persona and Sakura Wars etc.
Then on the PC side you have Creative Assembly (Total War) , Sports Interactive (Football Manager) and Relic Entertainment (Company of Heroes).
Literally ticks every box Xbox could want.
@101Force That's a lot of dreams you have there. Be nice if even one came true whether MS purchase them or not.
Those days I play Sega BC games on Series S and I also got a Dreamcast. I am a Sega fan but I have forgotten how fun some of their "forgotten" games are. I really wish they would re-release arcade ports, master system ports, saturn ports etc.
I think we're reading into this a little too much.
@VenomousAlbino that would be a nightmare, indeed.
@vulcanraven01 I absolutely loved Sakura Wars, I've always wanted that game to come to Xbox.
Sega is a bit of a sleeping giant and a Microsoft takeover could kick-start them back towards something like they used to be. I've always been a huge Sega fan and yes they've made plenty of mistakes but these often led to some great and very unique games across the Saturn and Dreamcast in particular.
Even now I my Series S about half the games I have installed are Sega or from their consoles, such as Guardian Heroes, Radiant Silvergun, Various Sonic Games, Daytona USA and Panzer Dragoon Orta. So yes I'm a bit of a Sega fanboy 😛
@GunValkyrie
Or a remake of the game that you have it's name as a user name.
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