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[Fbh]

What exactly is Rovio spending $278 million on?

According to their site they have 500+ employees so I imagine salaries and the physical space to put all those people in already takes a big chunk.
I also don't know if their reporte revenue already accounts for the 30% cut Apple/Google take from all their sales

 

[cireza]

Revenue =/= Profit

Sega's MC is around 4B$, so they literally just spent 1/4th of their whole business aquiring Rovio which profits around 40M$ a year, which means, it would take them over 25 years to break even, and this is not taking into account how relevant angry birds will be in 5 years time.

Yup, such a good deal for Sega

Edit : "In 2022, Rovio Entertainment generated an annual net income of 22.87 million euros, down from 30.14 million euros of profit for the period in the previous year." Its actually way worse than I expected, at this pace it would take over 50 years. Stop the madness!

This.

Completely dumb move from SEGA.

Never change.

 

[DKPOWPOW]

Pawl... I'm doubtful about the deal but Shenmue ? Seriously ? The serie had a window in the early 2010's at best.
In 2023, 90% of the people that could have loved Shenmue are more attracted by the Yakuza serie.

I know that's a different type of game but otakus, weebs, japan geeks often prefer the Yakuza settings in Japan (modern and medieval) over the chinese areas of Shenmue.(1986 Yokosuka in japan isn't enough for them...In Yakuza you have Yokohama, Osaka, Sapporo, Hiroshima, Okinawa...).

I know it's an unfair comparison (Yakuza has much more episodes) but it is what is.

Shenmue had a window. This window has been closed by Kiryu.Yakuza is finally more popular than Shenmue.
Sorry. (A shenmue fan)

No.

Though I enjoy the little I have played of the Yakuza games, it is no replacement for Shenmue.

It's foolish to think that Shenmue would not be a success today under the right circumstances. Shenmue and Yu Suzuki had an enormous effect on the gaming industry in the grand scheme of things.

It's ripples of creativity and ingenuity altered the way games were made, and simultaneously paved the way for other franchises to succeed when poised on successful platforms (Virtua Fighter, Yakuza).

Shenmue with the full might and budget of even what it had 20 odd years ago would likely cause shockwaves in the industry once again, because Yu Suzuki is a fucking Legend. He (and his teams) have been responsible for so many small facets of gaming that people take for granted today.

A billion dollars for a dying series and some cloud software.

If I didn't know any better I'd say SEGA is making a dumbass move so another can buy them out for a helluva deal.

 

[xrnzaaas]

Idiotic move, Angry Birds are wayyyy past their prime. Not to mention they're not a big player who can spend 1B without thinking about it too much.

 

[Fat Frog]

Shenmue with the full might and budget of even what it had 20 odd years ago would likely cause shockwaves in the industry once again, because Yu Suzuki is a fucking Legend.

Shenmue 3's budget finally reached $20 million and do you realize OG Shenmue's serie cost was in fact less than $70 million because there was marketing bullshit (more likely between 47-70. Plus, you must divide cost several times for Shenmue Saturn alpha, Shenmue 1, Shenmue 2 and a part of Shenmue 3).

Even with the help of Sega of Japan, i really doubt a "shockwave'" in the industry. Now, open worlds can reach 1000 staff (around 200 for OG Shenmue) and gameplay elements of Shenmue 3 didn't convince a lot of people.

Yu Suzuki is a legend but had his time...


I don't care about Rovio.
But i just saw several polls on era years ago, good replacement or not, fair or not, Yakuza is more popular than Shenmue on Era (more voters than Gaf)

Maybe Shenmue can win a poll on Gaf but it's a more niche forum for now.
Sorry.

 

[Three]

It's so that when Wednesday comes MS can say they are buying them for Rovio not for the Sega games.

 

[Scotty W]

Hope they make an incredible Angry Birds arcade game in very limited quantities and never port it to anything else.

 

[BlackTron]

Budget to acquire maker of Angry Birds: 1 billion

Budget to develop Sonic Frontiers: Unreal licensing fee + $5

 

[Shut0wen]

But I thought Microsoft was buying Sega.

I actually wouldnt be surprised if sega is doing this to be purchased themselfs from either sony or ms

 

[TheThreadsThatBindUs]

Rovio generated 317 million euros in revenue last year. This investment will pay off and start earning a profit for Sega in a very short amount of time.

Revenue =/= profit

 

[AngelMuffin]

 

[DKPOWPOW]

Shenmue 3's budget finally reached $20 million and do you realize OG Shenmue's serie cost was in fact less than $70 million because there was marketing bullshit (more likely between 47-70. Plus, you must divide cost several times for Shenmue Saturn alpha, Shenmue 1, Shenmue 2 and a part of Shenmue 3).

Even with the help of Sega of Japan, i really doubt a "shockwave'" in the industry. Now, open worlds can reach 1000 staff (around 200 for OG Shenmue) and gameplay elements of Shenmue 3 didn't convince a lot of people.

Yu Suzuki is a legend but had his time...


I don't care about Rovio.
But i just saw several polls on era years ago, good replacement or not, fair or not, Yakuza is more popular than Shenmue on Era (more voters than Gaf)

Maybe Shenmue can win a poll on Gaf but it's a more niche forum for now.
Sorry.

Shenmue III was held back by a lot of different elements. One of the most important factors was Sega didn't let Yu use the fighting engine for Shenmue/Virtua Fighter. He had to construct an entirely new system on a limited budget. He had to keep kickbackers in mind due to their contribution being a third of the entire budget for the game.

Sega effectively shot him in the foot from the get go. Whatever else he could throw in the game was barebones. Because a brand new fighting engine likely took up a good chunk of development time. On top of this he had to effectively create a world that still felt like Shenmue, while following his plan for this Chapter of the story.

Shenmue was never open world, and I don't think that is what he envisions. It is a game that provides the illusion of one, due to its carefully crafted nature, attention to detail, and freedom to explore. Inside of that is a very linear game that follows an adventure game style, coupled with a normally in-depth fighting system and hoards of mini-games. It's effectively a game inside of a game. The story of Shenmue pushes you forward, while the little things keep you coming back.

I can't knock Yakuza for becoming a popular game, it is good at what it does. However, I do not think it is an innovative series. Shenmue was, and its effects across the gaming landscape are still being felt today. I think it's fair to say Yu Suzuki would push whatever boundaries he thinks are worth doing if he has the budget, and in those circumstances a new Shenmue game may not even end up exactly what fans imagined, or even wanted.

But it could end up being another great thing for the gaming industry as a whole. Chances look slim though with SEGA acting like a buffoon.

 

[Varteras]

Sounds like the acquisition is going through. Sega's board directors met up and made a decision. $775 million.

Spoiler: To spare your eyes

https://www.segasammy.co.jp/cms/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/20230417_aquisition_e.pdf

 

[Oddvintagechap]

For instance, they own the Thunder Force series, but what have they done with that?

Do you seriously think that series needs anything to be done with?

I actually wouldn't be surprised if Sega is doing this to be purchased themselves from either Sony or MS

yeah, makes no sense.

 

[Team Andromeda]

Not for me, but SEGA have made so many good investments in Europe and its also nice to see SEGA able to have $1 Billion to spend too.
Listen to some people here, SEGA are dead and skint

 

[MMaRsu]

Smart move, they have a lot of fresh skilled devs working there, several studios.

 

[Crew511A]

Do you seriously think that series needs anything to be done with?

How about a compilation disc? Especially since we never got VI in the West.