"We are killing Sony": Hidden Sega documents offer fascinating insight into the 90s console war
Newly-published documents highlight the gradual decline of Sega's console production as it struggled to compete against Sony.
A 272-page collection of documents, shared by Sega Retro, features 1996 financial results and sales records from Sega of America, as well as comments from company leaders about the state of the industry and the newly-released Sega Saturn. Despite a strong game library, the Saturn struggled constantly against the new PlayStation, which was the younger and cheaper console.
The collection features Sega's efforts to overcome those struggles. In one email, then-CEO Tom Kalinske said that in Japan, "we are killing Sony. In every store, Saturn hardware is sold out and there are stacks of PlayStation. The retailers commented they can't compare the true sales rate because Saturn sells out before they can measure accurately."
As Kalinske notes, however, that success in Japan wasn't matched in the US, where Sony massively outsold Sega throughout the mid-90s. As the documents move to cover brand reviews of the Saturn and other Sega consoles, it becomes clear that the company was struggling across the board. Consoles weren't making enough money, and much of the blame seems to fall on Sega's sports games.
This is huge. A 272-page PDF of classified Sega of America docs from ~1996 was just posted online.There is so much info here that it's almost overwhelming. Manufacturing costs, retail margins, sales, product strategies, emails, etc.https://t.co/2XWbpu9QdK pic.twitter.com/akhxdK7fwdJuly 3, 2023
Sports are a recurring theme throughout the documents, but Sega appeared in no position to compete with EA and Sony. One slide suggests the company only employed 11 people to develop and market sports titles, while its
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