http://www.edge-online.com/news/sega-rethinking-global-management-structure
Sega has confirmed that it is looking to adapt its current management structure in a bid to more closely integrate its eastern and western divisions.
"We need more integration so projects and initiatives on both sides can benefit from everyone's experience and expertise," said Takayuki Kawagoe, head of Sega's CS division and ex-director of Smilebit, at a recent conference in Japan.
Kawagoe, who has been charged with leading the publisher toward new growth, acknowledged that Sega, like the Japanese games industry in general, is experiencing a downturn. "There were mountains and valleys," he said of the performance of recently released Sega titles.
PS3 game Ryu ga Gotoku 3 (Yakuza 3) has managed to break even and the recently released DS RPG 7th Dragon has sold well, said Kawagoe. However, fellow DS RPGs Shining Force Feather and World Destruction have not met company expectations.
Kawagoe also said that Sega's titles were receiving a better reception from European critics than those in the States, although he acknowledged that MadWorld's generally positive reviews hadn't translated into high sales. NPD reports [via Gamasutra] that March sales in the US were just 66,000.
He also said that the company's licensing department is hoping to extend Sega's IP into broader media platforms, noting the television anime adaptation of Valkyria Chronicles.
Sega's big title of the event was Puyo Puyo 7, the latest entry in the falling object puzzle series. Bayonetta also received one of its first live play demonstrations and End of Eternity, a futuristic RPG collaboration between tri-Ace and Sega, due for release on PS3 and Xbox 360 this winter, was unveiled.
The rest of the line-up, shown in a video compilation, featured a number of handheld titles, mainly for DS, including Sonic Chronicles, which was released in Europe and the States late last year.
