http://www.gamespot.com/news/2005/02/03/news_6117836.html
Sammy Corporation is one of the most successful game companies in Japan. Over the years, its lucrative pachinko games have provided it with a near-bottomless pit of funds--enough funds, in fact, for the company to purchase a controlling interest in the once-mighty Sega, with which it merged last year.
Just today, the Tokyo-based behemoth reported a net profit of more than $440 million for the nine-month period ending December 31, 2004. That figure, according to the Associated Press, is more than twice the amount reported a year earlier for the same period.
But while Sammy Corp. is doing gangbusters business in Japan, it seems its American subsidiary, Sammy USA, has fallen upon hard times. Today, the company issued a statement confirming "staff reductions," possibly significant, at Sammy Studios, its internal development shop. The company has yet to specify how many employees were terminated, but the majority of cuts were to its marketing and sales departments, located in Century City, California.
Yesterday, Sammy briefly addressed the layoffs. "Earlier this week Sammy Studios reduced its sales and marketing staff as part of an effort to put the companys focus squarely on game development," read a statement issued by the company. "It is difficult having to release some of the very same people we hand-selected to join the company. Yet our development capabilities and our creative and technical talent are intact, and we are confident that we will emerge from this transition as a top game studio."
The future of the Century City office is unknown, nor is it clear what plans are in place to replace the functions previously provided by the cut staffers. Sammy Studios' development team, which is currently working on the vampire-Western game Darkwatch, is based in Carlsbad, California.
Sammy's US operations were set up in mid-2002. This is the first instance of major layoffs for the company.
Sammy Corporation is one of the most successful game companies in Japan. Over the years, its lucrative pachinko games have provided it with a near-bottomless pit of funds--enough funds, in fact, for the company to purchase a controlling interest in the once-mighty Sega, with which it merged last year.
Just today, the Tokyo-based behemoth reported a net profit of more than $440 million for the nine-month period ending December 31, 2004. That figure, according to the Associated Press, is more than twice the amount reported a year earlier for the same period.
But while Sammy Corp. is doing gangbusters business in Japan, it seems its American subsidiary, Sammy USA, has fallen upon hard times. Today, the company issued a statement confirming "staff reductions," possibly significant, at Sammy Studios, its internal development shop. The company has yet to specify how many employees were terminated, but the majority of cuts were to its marketing and sales departments, located in Century City, California.
Yesterday, Sammy briefly addressed the layoffs. "Earlier this week Sammy Studios reduced its sales and marketing staff as part of an effort to put the companys focus squarely on game development," read a statement issued by the company. "It is difficult having to release some of the very same people we hand-selected to join the company. Yet our development capabilities and our creative and technical talent are intact, and we are confident that we will emerge from this transition as a top game studio."
The future of the Century City office is unknown, nor is it clear what plans are in place to replace the functions previously provided by the cut staffers. Sammy Studios' development team, which is currently working on the vampire-Western game Darkwatch, is based in Carlsbad, California.
Sammy's US operations were set up in mid-2002. This is the first instance of major layoffs for the company.