Sega Sells Japanese Arcade Business Due to COVID-19

Sega has announced a share transfer of its arcade business to Japanese company Genda, which will see Sega sell off its historic Japanese arcade business. Sega Sammy, the parent company that owns Sega and other affiliated businesses, announced that it has agreed to sell 85.1% of its shares in Sega Entertainment, the group’s arcade and amusement center business in Japan. The deal does not impact its video game divisions at all. Sega Sammy announced that its arcade business has been severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and that usage of its arcade facilities “declined remarkably” and resulted in “a significant loss” for its Q1 fiscal year. Sega Sammy’s board of directors agreed to transfer a majority share of its arcade business to Genda. The full impact of Sega’s departure from the physical arcade business will be revealed when the company shares its quarterly earnings to investors later this week. But Sega says the changes will be recorded as “extraordinary losses” for the company. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/10/21/arcade-dreams-forgotten-classics-sega-gun-fight"] Sega, like many Japanese video game companies, has arms in a variety of businesses outside of game development. Sega’s history in the arcade business is legendary and departing the business will mark the end of a decades-spanning era for the company. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt T.M. Kim is a reporter for IGN.