Sega is home to icons gaming IPs like Sonic, Like a Dragon, and more. However, the Japanese company was also an active console manufacturer over two decades ago. Before Microsoft joined the competition, Sega was a strong competitor to Sony and Nintendo.
The company has recently suffered a massive leak, revealing nearly 300 pages of confidential information. In addition to various details, it shows that Sega was highly confident about its position in the console market in 1996.
Why it matters: Following the failure of Sega’s consoles, the company left the home console market in 2001. Ironically, PlayStation would also make its best-selling console during that generation.
As seen above, an email from Sega shows the company was more than confident in the Sega Saturn. CEO Tom Kalinske even went on to say:
“We are killing Sony.”
He pointed out that Sega’s console was outselling PlayStation, stating that retailers could not measure sales because the console would instantly sell out. However, Sega’s victory was short-lived.
The Saturn was not selling well in the US and was unable to keep up this momentum. It ended up selling around 10 million units, while PlayStation went on to sell over 100 million units for its first console.
The leaked documents also reveal some potential reasons for Saturn’s failure. Sega believed it had worse marketing than Sony and that PlayStation was the better-looking console.
Additionally, massive games like Final Fantasy 7 were released exclusively on the PlayStation. This proved to be an incredible offering for Sony, adding to the approaching demise of Sega’s console competition.
Following Saturn, the Dreamcast was released in 1998. However, this was the company’s last outing in the home console market.
Over twenty years later, Sega has left the console market, but it is still a major part of the gaming industry. The recently released Sonic Frontiers is now the best-selling 3D game in the franchise, indicating massive success for Sega’s mascot.
Franchises like Persona and Like a Dragon are also performing well, with both IPs set to receive new games later this year.
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