In light of dire financial prospects, publisher Sega is set to cut 300 jobs from its workforce.
The news was made known to investors, stating that the company’s net profits for the financial year were projected to be $34 million. Last year, the company made $260 million in profits; a pretty huge difference as you can see.
As a result, Sega is looking to cut down on its expenditures by reducing staff by about 300. Instead of outright laying them off, the company will be looking to voluntary retirement for employees whose jobs are already on the line. This involves financial incentives for those who agree to retire from work earlier than planned.
This workforce reduction will not affect studios working under the publisher’s wing, such as Total War and Alien Isolation developer The Creative Assembly and Football Manager 2015 developer Sports Interactive. Instead, the losses will be concentrated on the publishing side of things, with the company’s American office in San Francisco being the most conspicuous target. It is estimated that 120 jobs will be lost between February and March as the office is relocated to Southern California.
Sega also confirmed with Eurogamer that its European branch will also be affected, stating:
We are under consultation with a limited number of staff in the European publishing business and will be able to confirm decisions regarding any potential redundancies in the coming weeks.
Alongside these layoffs, Sega will also be turning its focus towards PC and mobile games:
SEGA has positioned Digital Games, particularly smartphone and PC online gaming, as a growth area and has determined to implement the following measures in order to constantly post profits by improving management efficiency while promptly promoting redistribution of management resources.
This is particularly noteworthy news, considering that the publisher began as one of the two biggest console giants on the market in the 1980s and 1990s.
Not surprisingly, the biggest releases from Sega this year have a decidedly PC and mobile-centric slant, with Total War: Attila, Total War: Arena, Total War Battles: Kingdoms, and Football Manager 2016. Additionally, Yakuza 5 will be getting a worldwide release via the PlayStation Network in mid 2015. The title was previously released exclusively in Japan in 2012.