Sega quits running arcades after 50+ years – could still make coin-ops

metro.co.uk:

It’s the end of an era as Sega sells the remains of its arcade business to Genda, although this shouldn’t mean an end to Sega arcade games.

Back in 2020, Sega sold just over 85% of its arcade business to rival company Genda, due to significant losses caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Earlier today, it gave up the remaining 15%.

This means Sega is officially exiting the arcade business after more than 50 years. It will no longer run its own arcades and the Sega name and branding will be phased out.

When Genda acquired most of Sega Entertainment, the group in charge of the arcade business, it changed the name to Genda Sega Entertainment. In a statement on the official website, its name has been changed again to Genda GiGO Entertainment.

The new GiGO name is also what will replace the Sega branding in the arcades. A tweet by Genda’s chairman of the board, Takashi Kataoka, explains that GiGO stands for ‘Get into the Gaming Oasis.’

Kataoka thanks Sega for its history and says that the rebranding will begin in Ikebukuro, Akihabara, and Shinjuku before moving across the entire country.

While it is sad to see an era of Sega’s history come to an end, this doesn’t mean Sega will stop making actual arcade games.

It has continued to supply arcades with new games right up to the present day. Last year saw it release Virtua Fighter 5 Ultimate Showdown, an enhanced version of 2010’s Virtua Fighter 5 Final Showdown, which released for the PlayStation 4 in the West.

In the past the company has been responsible for iconic arcade staples such as OutRun, Space Harrier, and Super Hang-On, which more recently have made appearances in the Yakuza series as optional mini-games.

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