Sega has admitted sales of its games may be lower-than-expected due to players awaiting “definitive editions” before buying.
The company has published (in Japanese) a shareholders Q&A session following its most recent earnings report (thanks Automaton). During the session, the company was questioned on a drop in sales of catalogue games, and revenue fluctuations impacted by new releases. Specifically, Sega has released a number of critically acclaimed games, but sales have fallen short of expectations.
In its response, Sega made a number of suggestions, including successful rival games of the same genre and initial pricing of games.
It also admitted players expecting a “definitive edition” of its games may be hesitant to purchase at launch.
“While we haven’t been able to pinpoint a precise cause of [the lower-than-expected sales performance], we believe the problem also lies in our marketing, which wasn’t able to sufficiently convey the appeal of our games to users,” the company said, reassuring investors the issue is being investigated.
No specific games were mentioned in the exchange, but it certainly points towards the games of Atlus. Traditionally, the RPG maker has released revised versions of its games following initial release: Persona 4 was followed by a Golden version, while Persona 5 was followed by Royal, both of which had extra characters and content. For a more recent example, 2021’s Shin Megami Tensei 5 was followed last year by Shin Megami Tensei 5: Vengeance.
Last year also saw the release of Metaphor: ReFantazio. It was critically acclaimed, award-winning, and surpassed 1m sales on launch day to become the fastest-selling Atlus game. Then, in July this year, Atlus announced it had sold 2m units worldwide. It suggests a drop-off in sales after that initial surge.
Atlus has not specified if Metaphor: ReFantazio will receive a revised version, but the precedent set by its previous games may have had fans questioning.
As Eurogamer reported yesterday, Katsura Hashino – director of Metaphor: ReFantazio and the Persona games – wants to create “JRPG 3.0” as a next evolutionary step. The comment has raised eyebrows ahead of the presumed-reveal of Persona 6.
