[The Game Business] “Reviving Sega will be the greatest achievement in my career” - Sega President Shuji Utsumi

Topher

Topher

Identifies as young
Sega president Shuji Utsumi on a resurgent Japan, the risks of nostalgia and why he believes in consoles



Hello. Welcome back. I missed you! Did you have a lovely weekend?

During my visit to Los Angeles for Summer Game Fest, I took a trip over to Burbank, California to meet Sega's Shuji Utsumi.

Utsumi-san is the CEO of Sega America and Sega Europe, and the COO and President of Sega Corporation. He's also a real industry veteran. Over his 30-year career, he produced the business plan for the first PlayStation. He oversaw first-party development for Sega Dreamcast, looking after titles such as Sonic Adventure, Space Channel 5, Crazy Taxi and Jet Set Radio. At Disney, he was involved in putting together the Kingdom Hearts deal with Square Enix. And he co-founded Q-Entertainment with Tetsuya Mizuguchi, leading to the creation of Lumines and Meteos.

For my opening question, I asked what he felt was his greatest career achievement. The answer? He hopes it's none of the above.

"Now I've rejoined Sega and I am working on reviving Sega… I want to say that this is going to be my greatest achievement."

You can listen or watch my interview with Shuji Utsumi above. Alternatively, I've typed up some key highlights below.

Enjoy.
Six things I learnt during my interview with Sega boss Shuji Utsumi

https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F513cf869-000e-4d47-8ab1-881510e53e7a_1508x992.png


1. Sega's Japan studios now think globally

Sega has rejuvenated its Japanese studio business with a more global approach, Sega president Shuji Utsumi told The Game Business Show.

Titles such as Persona and Like A Dragon are delivering strong critical and commercial results for the publisher, which followed a prolonged period where most of Sega's video game successes were coming out of Europe.

"For some reasons when I rejoined Sega, the Japanese studiops were paying attention to the domestic market, the Japanese market, more [than other markets]," Utusmi-san said.

"Even though Sega is such a beloved company among Western audiences, they were paying very little attention to this audience. So we changed the attitude to say: 'Hey, all the gamers in the world are our audience'.

"We decided to have the Japanese and international [versions] launching at the same time. And having [all the] platforms, including PC, at the same time, too. And then preparing the marketing documents for the international market at the same time. In the past we were Japan-first, video game-first and then [we'd] move into the global market. By changing the system, studios started to prepare for things at the earliest stages, and this has helped their thinking process when developing a game."
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2. Sega's various studios are like music labels

Sega's Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio is best known for its Like A Dragon games, and has recently revealed its new IP Stranger Than Heaven
Sega is quite an eclectic publisher. It has a varied group of studios and properties, from Sonic The Hedgehog to Football Manager, Total War to Persona.

With this in mind, I wanted to ask Shuji Utsumi what he considers to be Sega's identity.

"I was with the music industry for a while, so I see these different groups [within Sega] like labels," he told us. "So, there's Football Manager, Persona, Like A Dragon… all these production lines are like a label, with different art directions, attitudes and culture. But what's really common is the attitude towards quality, personality and creativity.

"We encourage them to be pushing the edge and trying something new. That's the value that we like to have in common [between teams]. Sega is always trying to empower the gamer to stimulate and challenge their norm. That's how I see Sega."

Utsumi-san extends his music industry metaphor when talking about where he hopes to take Sega.

"I'd really like to revive that Sega spirit. Sometime around 2000, even around the 1980s, we were regarded as a very cultural company. If you compare it to the music industry, I believe Sega brings rock and roll. In the arcade business, we really had a rock and roll mindset and trying to provide new stuff. So nowadays, we want Sega to always be trying something different, while respecting the old times, too."
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3. Games-as-as-service is Sega's biggest challenge

Cracking the live-service business is Sega's biggest challenge, Shuji Utsumi told us.

The Sega president and COO said that its single-player properties are performing well, and its next objective is to deliver better results with its games-as-a-service [GAAS] projects.

"The game companies with a good record tend to have a strong GAAS business global," he said. "The console/PC standalone business is getting better, but we are still working on making that GAAS business global. That's one of the biggest challenges."

Sega is no stranger to online game experiences, and even created one of the early online RPGs in Phantasy Star Online back in the year 2000. Yet Sega's current GAAS focus is more around the free-to-play mobile space, and that's something the newly-acquired Rovio is here to help with.

"Rovio has deep knowledge of the global mobile business, and very strong IP with Angry Birds," Utsumi-san said. "We feel like the fit between Rovio and Sega is good. We are working closely with Rovio to have a Sonic mobile game, and we are giving them access to IPs, including Sonic, to come up with nice, welcoming GAAS titles."
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4. Sega thinks a lot about balancing old with new

Sega is reviving classic brands including Jet Set Radio (Pictured), Shinobi, Crazy Taxi, Golden Axe and Streets of Rage
That 'respecting the old times' is part of a tricky balance for Sega. The publisher has a successful retro games business built on nearly six decades of making video games. And it is currently planning to bring back a slew of classic properties, including Jet Set Radio, Crazy Taxi, Shinobi, Golden Axe and Streets of Rage.

Yet Utsumi-san says it's important not to get too caught up in the nostalgia.

"This is something I'm always talking to with studios and developers. While we're caring for all of the products, we need to be innovative at the same time to really attract a new audience. Luckily nowadays, everything around the year 2000 is getting to be hip again. It's a good tailwind for us. But at the same time, we need to have new elements in the game. The developers know and understand that the nostalgic element, the old element, and the new element are both important."

Utsumi discussed the importance of being bold and ambitious with new concepts. Yet considering the rising costs of making video games, I asked how Sega can do that in a commercially prudent way.

"It's like a portfolio," he answered. "We have some solid business lines that are less risky. Sonic… of course the production base is getting bigger, but you can count on a solid return. But some other IPs… we are trying to be wild. It is higher risk, but potentially higher return.

"We are also [investing in] transmedia, and a strong title can give you a longer tail. So having a high-quality game ends up giving you more stable revenue in the future. That's the attitude that we're having."

"We have some solid business lines that are less risky. Sonic… you can count on a solid return. But some other IPs… we are trying to be wild"

Although Sega wants to be ambitious with new concepts, that doesn't mean it's looking to build huge, expansive AAA games. Sega's line-up is full of niche concepts, and that's just how Utsumi-san likes it.

"We are targeting some specific audiences in a deeper way," he said. "You might think this game is very specific, but if it goes deep… then sometimes you have a chance to go bigger. So rather than having a huge target audience, we would rather target a narrow group, go deep and expand [that group]."
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5. Hollywood wasn't interested in a Crash Bandicoot movie

The Sonic movie franchise has now generated over $1bn worldwide
Alongside games-as-a-service, the other key area for Sega involves developing its properties beyond video games.

Sega boss Shuji Utsumi says that the success of the Sonic movies has had a major impact on that franchise, with a significant boost to Sonic game sales. And now the company is looking to expand its other IPs in a similar way.

It's a marked change from when Utsumi-san first approached Hollywood to work on video games IP, he recalled.

"When I started to get involved in the video game business, I picked up Crash Bandicoot and started asking some of the movie studios if they were interested in turning that property into a movie," he revealed on The Game Business Show. "But I was treated like… 'hey, video games is like a toy business'. They didn't really take it seriously.

"Video games are finally getting to be the culture, and that's moving into the movie business. That's a big shift for the industry that I am really happy about."
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6. Sega's president wants to believe in consoles

Shuji Utsumi is a console fan. He launched the PlayStation and Dreamcast, and Sega continues to be a huge supporter of console hardware. The publisher is one of the biggest developers working on Nintendo Switch 2, for example, with three Switch 2 launch titles, and a further two to follow.

Yet he's concerned about the future of the console business due to growing pressure from both PC and mobile.

"Since I was a member of the PlayStation launch team, I have a big attachment to the console business," he told us. "And Nintendo has been playing an amazing role… Jesus, they made a great contribution to this area. I didn't expect Switch 1 to be that successful. Nobody did. But the big huge trend is PC, with its global market reach, and mobile, of course, which is getting better and better in terms of graphics."

But Utsumi-san feels consoles do offer a distinct experience from those other two platforms.

"Sometimes you want to play in different styles. Sometimes you want to relax and play in the living room with the big screen. That's one way. Sometimes you want to kill time on some mobile games. And a PC game… it's sitting in front of a desk, doing something more serious. There are lots of ways to enjoy games, and among all those activities, I want to believe the console is going to give us very nice opportunities."

I responded to Utsumi by saying that it is tough out there for a lot of game companies, but he was eager to point out the positives.

"I was with the music industry for a while. The music industry is tough," he concluded. "The movie industry is tough. But if you look at the video game industry, the base is still expanding. So, while it's getting tougher, maybe for console, the game business overall is still growing. There is opportunity to reach more and more people. I am optimistic about it."
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www.thegamebusiness.com

“Reviving Sega will be the greatest achievement in my career”

Sega president Shuji Utsumi on a resurgent Japan, the risks of nostalgia and why he believes in consoles
www.thegamebusiness.com www.thegamebusiness.com
 
I'm guessing all the games will be dropping around the same time? We've been hearing about remakes and remasters for years but they're nowhere to be seen. I know we're getting Shinobi soon, we're also getting that new Sonic Racing game. But I wonder where Jet Set Radio, Crazy Taxi, Golden Axe, Streets of Rage, etc. are.
 
I don't know how you're gonna do it, but bring me Panzer Dragoon Saga remastered pleeeeeaaaase...
 
Little Mac said:
Where is that Golden Axe and Streets of Rage games they teased years ago?
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Question 3 : they are struggling with Games as a Service. Yes, you already know what these will be. Some awful, online shit riddled with DLCs and always online.

Which is funny. Because SEGA literally means SErvice GAmes.

And when they cancel their shitty FPS from Creative Assembly that cost infinite money, in the mean time, old games get a 500$ budget and are sent to Forever Entertainment.
 
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I'd do just about anything for a next gen sega console with specs on par with ps6 and whatever MS is cooking up as far as home hardware.
 
REDRZA MWS said:
I'd do just about anything for a next gen sega console with specs on par with ps6 and whatever MS is cooking up as far as home hardware.
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Prepare your money, this CEO of Sega doesn't expose himself for nothing, he doesn't even hide it.
 
Topher said:
Sega president Shuji Utsumi on a resurgent Japan, the risks of nostalgia and why he believes in consoles



Hello. Welcome back. I missed you! Did you have a lovely weekend?

During my visit to Los Angeles for Summer Game Fest, I took a trip over to Burbank, California to meet Sega's Shuji Utsumi.

Utsumi-san is the CEO of Sega America and Sega Europe, and the COO and President of Sega Corporation. He's also a real industry veteran. Over his 30-year career, he produced the business plan for the first PlayStation. He oversaw first-party development for Sega Dreamcast, looking after titles such as Sonic Adventure, Space Channel 5, Crazy Taxi and Jet Set Radio. At Disney, he was involved in putting together the Kingdom Hearts deal with Square Enix. And he co-founded Q-Entertainment with Tetsuya Mizuguchi, leading to the creation of Lumines and Meteos.

For my opening question, I asked what he felt was his greatest career achievement. The answer? He hopes it's none of the above.

"Now I've rejoined Sega and I am working on reviving Sega… I want to say that this is going to be my greatest achievement."

You can listen or watch my interview with Shuji Utsumi above. Alternatively, I've typed up some key highlights below.

Enjoy.
Six things I learnt during my interview with Sega boss Shuji Utsumi

https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F513cf869-000e-4d47-8ab1-881510e53e7a_1508x992.png


1. Sega's Japan studios now think globally



2. Sega's various studios are like music labels



3. Games-as-as-service is Sega's biggest challenge



4. Sega thinks a lot about balancing old with new



5. Hollywood wasn't interested in a Crash Bandicoot movie



6. Sega's president wants to believe in consoles



www.thegamebusiness.com

“Reviving Sega will be the greatest achievement in my career”

Sega president Shuji Utsumi on a resurgent Japan, the risks of nostalgia and why he believes in consoles
www.thegamebusiness.com www.thegamebusiness.com
Click to expand...



I said it before & I'll say it again Sega & Capcom are the companies that can make cloud gaming work because they can treat it as an Arcade & design games above the home console specs then release the home version later .
 
E-Cat said:
Skies of Arcadia remake or bust
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If they made another console and the launch titles included Skies of Arcadia Remake or 2......im buying it day one.
Even if there are no other launch titles.

s-l1200.jpg


Feed my nostaliga with some other titles.

1600.jpg



jet-set-radio-eu.900x.jpg



toycommander-1673374770617.jpg



segarally2-1652295468871.jpg



virtualonoratorio-1652291268764.jpg



segagt2-1687828591439.jpg

^Yes I know.
 
Black_Stride said:
If they made another console and the launch titles included Skies of Arcadia Remake or 2......im buying it day one.
Even if there are no other launch titles.

s-l1200.jpg


Feed my nostaliga with some other titles.^Yes I know.
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Skies of Arcadia was recently patented by Sega a new game in this franchise is on the way. keep calm.
 
dreamcast was the best sega. it finally had the best nintendo games, but they 'll never understand it as they keep doing the same mistakes. sonic was never good, stop wasting money on that turd.
 
Chris Dring has been delivering a fuckton of interesting interviews and articles since leaving GI.biz. Kudos to him.
 
They are lucky to be somewhat of a "force" to this day, having to pull out of the hardware scene completely and near enough on their knees financially in 2001.....otherwise they could have easily have ended up like Commodore/Atari/3DO
 
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