(UPDATE 2) Ryan Drummond Speaks Out About SEGA

“I only speak the truth that I know.”

UPDATE 2: TSSZ has confirmed via email correspondence with Ryan Drummond that the Twitter account mentioned in the story is indeed his official account, and he is working on getting it verified with Twitter.

Every so often, you hear about the inner workings of a company from someone who knew them well, and we have another example of that for you today, Jumping into a fan conversation on Twitter, former Sonic voice actor Ryan Drummond reacted to a comment that SEGA isn’t actually “giving the fans what they want”:

They do not give a damn what fans want. They care about what makes money. Make no mistake.

This sparked an outpouring of sadness from fans who seemed more accepting of such a scenario after hearing it from a trusted source like Drummond. The quote also generated a good deal of support and encouragement from commenters, praising the voice actor for speaking his mind so openly.

Unfortunately, this isn’t the first we’ve heard of flawed priorities taking center stage at the troubled game company. Back in January when we covered SEGA’s dramatic restructuring, we also dug into the company’s supposedly poor treatment of its employees, and one particular complaint closely echoed Drummond’s own commentary:

• Bad business decisions, well above my pay grade. Money over quality was the general attitude there, and we missed out on some great opportunities.

While turning a profit is obviously the primary goal of any company, that coming at the expense of quality tends to backfire in dramatic and visible ways, especially in the gaming industry. With SEGA’s restructuring in full swing, we’ll soon see if their newfound business focus pays off. We thank Christopher Knopps for tipping us off about the Twitter exchange