Sega to Close Korean Subsidiary

[Shrygue]

via Next Generation


”We determined [Sega Korea’s] dissolution for global business optimization,” parent company Sega Sammy Holdings announced following a board meeting.

Sega Korea has been handling the domestic distribution and sales of videogame software, as well as the operation of amusement facilities and sales/rental of amusement machines, since its establishment on February 12, 2003.

Sega Sammy has yet to fix the date of the Korean subsidiary’s dissolution. “The liquidation procedure is to be taken promptly after resolution for dissolution at Sega Korea Ltd,” it said.

The company also announced that it is to discontinue the development of an entertainment complex in Yokohama, Japan, in order to “focus its efforts on its core business to improve its performance promptly”.

Sega Sammy said it was examining the potential impact of the decision on its operating results for the year ending March 31, 2008.

In its most recent earnings release Sega Sammy said that it expects to lose 26 billion yen this business year, and announced plans to cut 400 jobs as part of its latest “turnaround efforts”.

Sega has been the most active publisher across console platforms so far in 2008. “With the arcade business undergoing restructuring and downsizing, it is partially left to Sega’s retail games arm to help drive the company towards profitability by returning some of the last three years’ worth of huge R&D investment in console games,” said Screen Digest analyst Piers Harding-Rolls in a recent analysis of the company’s operations.

[JKKDARK]

Is the piracy high in Korea?