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There is a lot of controversy about who owns Sega. Some people say it is Sony, while other people say Nintendo. The most recent thing that people seem to think is that Sega was bought out by Disney but is it true?
Who really owns Sega?
At this time Sega is not owned by any of the previously mentioned companies. Sega is actually owned by Sega and is still operating as its own entity. Sega Games Co LTD is a Japanese video game developer and arcade software and hardware game developer.
The headquarters of Sega is in Tokyo, Japan, Irvine, California, and London, England. Sega has built its international branches called Sega of America and Sega Europe.
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What if Disney bought Sega?
Throughout the years, people suggested that Disney, Sony, Microsoft, and even Toshiba should buy Sega. Now Sega is a third party software developer company and it certainly seems like they are releasing awful games, ignoring great franchises, and have a limited production team.
Once upon a time, Sega had some awesome games that totally rocked. If Sega wants to come back and be on top again, it will be very hard because of the strong competition. Companies like Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo now own virtually all of the video game console sales in the world.
These three giant companies basically own the entire video game market currently and that is unlikely to change in the future.
If Sega wants to come back and be a serious contender against Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft then Sega needs to make some major investments and restructuring of its business practices, networks, and business model.
The only thing that could possibly make Sega competitive again is if a major company such as Disney would purchase Sega and then make Sega the sole producer for all of Disney’s characters and games.
This would be similar to the way that Nintendo has carved out a niche.
In 2019, Disney made 69.57 billion dollars in revenue. With all that money we know that Disney could invest in Sega if they really wanted to. If Disney did indeed buy Sega then it would give Sega the opportunity to rejoin the market and have a big comeback.
Although at this time Disney has not commented on if they would purchase Sega in the future in our opinion it is much more likely that Disney would simply open their own gaming arm rather than purchasing Sega.
Is Sega developing any Disney games?
Sega developed many Disney video games that were released exclusively on their consoles throughout the 1990s. Sega’s mascot, Sonic the Hedgehog and Dr. Ivo “Eggman” Robotnik the main antagonist of the Sonic the Hedgehog series made cameo appearances in Wreck-It Ralph in 2012 and its sequel in 2018.
Prior to that, reruns of Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog were shown on Toon Disney from 1998 to 2002, and reruns of Sonic Underground aired on Disney XD in 2012. After Sonic Boom stopped airing on Cartoon Network and Boomerang, the series began airing on Disney Channel, and later on Disney XD.
At this time Sega is not currently developing any Disney games, but is actually in the process of making the Sonic the Hedgehog movies.
Why did Sega shift to third-party software development?
Sega shifted to third party software development because Sega needed more money after they released the Dreamcast system. Sega launched Dreamcast in 1998 in Japan and the entire stock of 150,000 consoles sold out by the end of the day. After being released in Japan, the Sega Dreamcast was released in the US and Europe. These releases produced millions of sales within a short time. Sadly after a few years, the sales rate began decreasing quickly.
The Dreamcast’s launch had been successful but Sony still only held 60 percent of the game market in the US.
In 1999, Sony revealed their second-generation Playstation and in the same year, Nintendo announced their next-generation game console. On the other hand, Microsoft also began to develop its Xbox. With all these new game systems taking over the market, Sega took a big hit financially.
In March 2001, Sega posted a consolidated net loss of $417.5 million.
On May 22, 2000, CSK chairman Isao Okawa replaced Irimajiri as president of Sega. Okawa had long thought that Sega should abandon the console business. Others, including Sega’s co-founder David Rosen shared this same view. He had always felt it was a bit crazy for them to be limiting their potential to Sega game systems. Stolar had suggested that Sega should have sold their company to Microsoft a long time ago.
In a September 2000 meeting with Sega’s Japanese executives and heads of its first-party game studios, Moore and Sega of America executive Charles Bellfield recommended that Sega abandon its console business.
In response, the studio heads walked out.
Sega announced an official company name change from Sega Enterprises, Ltd. to Sega Corporation effective November 1, 2000. Sega stated in a release that this was to display its commitment to its “network entertainment business”.
On January 23, 2001, Japanese newspaper Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported that Sega would cease production of the Dreamcast and develop software for other platforms. After an initial denial, Sega of Japan released a press statement confirming they were considering producing software for the PlayStation 2 and Game Boy Advance as part of their ‘new management policy”.
Is Sonic the Hedgehog owned by Disney?
A Japanese video game series and media franchise created by the Sega Team is known as Sonic the Hedgehog. The series is owned by Sega and not by Disney.
The franchise centers on Sonic, an anthropomorphic blue hedgehog who battles the evil Doctor Eggman, a mad scientist. The main Sonic the Hedgehog games were developed by Sega’s Team. Later other games were developed by various studios, including spin-offs set in the racing, fighting, party and sports genres. The franchise also incorporates printed media, animations, and a 2020 feature film.
The first Sonic game, released in 1991 for the Sega Genesis, was developed after Sega requested a new mascot character to replace Alex Kidd to compete with Nintendo’s mascot Mario.
Its success helped Sega become one of the leading video game companies during the 16-bit era of the early 1990s. Sega Technical Institute developed the next three Sonic games in addition to Sonic Spinball (1993).
After a break during the unsuccessful Saturn era, the first major 3D Sonic game, Sonic Adventure, was released in 1998 for the Dreamcast. Sega once again left the console market and shifted to third-party development in 2001. This allowed the series to continue on Nintendo, Xbox, and PlayStation systems.
Sega History
Sega developed its first coin-operated game with Periscope in the late 1960s. In an effort to become a publicly-traded company, Sega was sold to Gulf and Western Industries in 1969.
In the 1980s Sega started to develop game consoles. From 1983-2001 they released five different game consoles. Sega had a huge profit loss and got out of the console market soon after the release of their 5th console, the Dreamcast.
Sega developed many Disney video games that were released exclusively on their own consoles throughout the 1990s. So this is probably why many people believe that they are owned by Disney even though they are not.
So what about Sony and Nintendo? In real life, these two companies are the competitors of Sega. When Sega started to release game consoles, Nintendo was the first major competitor to battle Sega. After a few years Sony basically took over the entire game market in the United States.
Sega released five Game consoles:
- SG-1000
- Master System
- Genesis/Mega Drive
- Sega Saturn
- Dreamcast
In 1999, the Sega Dreamcast was released, and it was exactly what the gaming community was looking for! Sales were through the roof, and it took over 31% of the gaming market in the United States.
At that same time Sony had 60 percent of the game market with the release of their first ever PlayStation. Nintendo also was also trying to make their mark and come out with the next big gaming system.
Conclusion
Here is the biggest question we all want to know! Is Disney going to buy Sega?Many people suggest that Disney, Sony or Nintendo should buy Sega so that Sega can come back with their new console or so that those companies can take over the Sonic franchise.
The likelihood of one of the major console makers buying Sega to make a console is pretty low but they certainly could buy it to get access to the Sonic franchise.
Another possibility is that a company that currently isn’t in the console business could buy Sega and revive that arm of the business. Disney or Amazon would be great possibilities but as of now there hasn’t been any inklings of a buyout happening.