Microsoft teaming up with Sega

T

taciturngreyhound

Joined
Jun 28, 2019
There's a recent rumor going around that Microsoft has teamed up with Sega to rebrand the Xbox as a Sega console in Japan. Do you think Shenmue 4 as an Xbox exclusive would be a possibility if it's true?
 
It could have implications and I'd worry if all Sega because MS exclusives. Microsoft didn't want anything to do with Shenmue III and Sega haven't been exactly keen to bring it back other than allowing Yu the licence.

We of course don't know what deal Yu Suzuki struck with Sega with regards to Shenmue. Does he get first refusal on the franchise for example. We also don't know the terms of any Microsoft/Sega deal. It might only be literally for their branding on the console (if the rumour is true) to see if it sells better. Let's be honest it might help but Xbox has sold like trash over there for years. I'm not sure shoving Sega branding will make that much of a difference. It's still a Microsoft console.

Time will tell I suppose.
 
There have been a lot of rumours lately and most of them involve microsoft and sega.
Some say that Microsoft is buying sega wich i don't believe there is also talk of a partnership and that the Xbox series S line will be Xbox series Sega to boost microsoft sales in japan. Another rumour says that the Xbox Series X will be retrocompatible with dreamcast games since the dreamcast was built in partnership with microsoft. There is also talk of the Sega game pass and a possible VR hardware that sega has been developing in the last couple of years.
One thing that suports the possibility of a Sega and Microsoft partnership is the recent arrival of Sega games on the Microsoft consoles with PSO2 online and the Yakuza series on game pass.
But there is also talk of a Sega and Sony partnership as well with both companies making revelations on the 4th of june, so will have to wait and see, but for now its anybody's guess I supose.
 
Aren't Sega revealing some "huge" news via Famitsu next week? This is probably it, or something close to it.
Though, as a huge Sega fan, I'd be extremely pissed if Microsoft literally just use this to shift more sales in Japan just based on Sega's name and not actually lock down the revival of some long-awaited franchises (e.g. Skies of Arcadia) or move some of the titles they only released on PS4 and Switch to the new Xbox.
 
Sonoshee said:
Aren't Sega revealing some "huge" news via Famitsu next week? This is probably it, or something close to it.
Though, as a huge Sega fan, I'd be extremely pissed if Microsoft literally just use this to shift more sales in Japan just based on Sega's name and not actually lock down the revival of some long-awaited franchises (e.g. Skies of Arcadia) or move some of the titles they only released on PS4 and Switch to the new Xbox.
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If it is the case then Sega will be making some good money, which is a plus.

It's a good idea but I've an issue with it in some respects. Almost lazy marketing from Microsoft because they've never found a formula that works over there.

Also consider this, apart from the Saturn the rest of Sega's consoles (Game Gear might be an exception too) have always sold better in the west, so while it has better brand recognition (and sales) it still has to contend with Nintendo and Sony who are dominant there.
 
I don't really see how either Sega or Microsoft will benefit from this. Everyone knows it's a Microsoft console underneath and it's not like Sega have the manpower or money to suddenly pump out a load of in-house titles. I mean if they turned round and said Yakuza and Persona are now only on the new 'Sega' console it would do those franchises more harm than good. I'd say if it is true, it's more likely to be a streaming BC service, playing the back catalog of in house Dreamcast, Saturn and Mega Drive stuff on it.

Aren't console sales massively on the decline in Japan anyway, other than Switch?
 
Down by Law said:
I don't really see how either Sega or Microsoft will benefit from this. Everyone knows it's a Microsoft console underneath and it's not like Sega have the manpower or money to suddenly pump out a load of in-house titles. I mean if they turned round and said Yakuza and Persona are now only on the new 'Sega' console it would do those franchises more harm than good. I'd say if it is true, it's more likely to be a streaming BC service, playing the back catalog of in house Dreamcast, Saturn and Mega Drive stuff on it.

Aren't console sales massively on the decline in Japan anyway, other than Switch?
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Is a streaming service going to shake the industry as such? Sega have released plenty of their old games via various online stores so all that would be is another version of PSNow of the Xcloud when that comes. Of course it will be good because there's many out there who want to play/experience the older Sega titles but the tech etc isn't anything we've not seen before.

That's a good point re console sales in Japan. This article goes into last years sales, which were dominated by the Switch, then PS4. Xbox did 8k sales. So to think they're going to shift a bucket load with Sega branding seems a bit far off (I could be wrong).

www.gamespot.com

76% Of Japan Console Sales In 2019 Were For Nintendo Switch

The Nintendo Switch was the only console to see a rise in year-on-year sales numbers, while 3DS sales plummeted.
www.gamespot.com www.gamespot.com

This is from 2016 which said console sales were at a 25 year low in Japan for 2015 (old but adds to what you're saying) https://www.gamesindustry.biz/artic...sical-software-sales-down-16-per-cent-in-2015
 
After the last big secret Sega announcement was for a series of adverts I'm not putting too much stock in this, but I'm interested nonetheless. Maybe it's something to do with VR? A Sega produced headset powered by the MS consoles? A virtual arcade filled with classic Sega game with online play? Who knows?
 
Down by Law said:
After the last big secret Sega announcement was for a series of adverts I'm not putting too much stock in this, but I'm interested nonetheless. Maybe it's something to do with VR? A Sega produced headset powered by the MS consoles? A virtual arcade filled with classic Sega game with online play? Who knows?
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From the Sega Shiro trailer it looks like they are teasing a portable hardware.
In that trailer we see him playing with a Sega Game Gear, he also wears some Cool Sega Glasses, possibly hinting some VR hardware and he also wears a Sega Saturn like a backpack. The trailer also sends the message that the next big "trend or thing" will be SEGA.
 
Whatever it is, software deal, or some SEGA Microsoft hardware cooperation,
i'm pretty sure it wont have anything to do with the Shenmue IP / exclusive Shenmue 4.

It doesnt make much sense to put a Shenmue 4 exclusive on a brand new Xbox console
just to boost console sales with the SEGA name.
SEGA is not Rockstar Games or FromSoftware. The Xbox is non existent in Japan.
All of the Shenmue HD sales came from the PS4 in Japan,
all of the Shenmue 3 sales came from the PS4 in Japan. Whatever multi platform title it is,
the Xbox One was pretty much always on the last place worldwide. And now they want to
divide the fanbase even more because you can only get the game on the (new) Xbox?
So all of the success lies on people buying a (new) Xbox?
That sounds horrible, Shenmue 4 wouldnt probably even reach Shenmue 3 sales numbers.

Shenmue is not GTA or Dark Souls, the IP is not famous in Japan. I think there are way more fans in NA
and EU than in Japan. And would they all buy a new Xbox just because Shenmue
or Sega games are Xbox exclusive? No. Thats going to limit the fanbase even further.
I dont see how this would help us in any way.

Sounds more like a really big announcement to shock people
and then the IP dies silently again.

Also pretty much all of the core western Yakuza fans came from the PS3 and PS4,
they brought the IP back from the grave. (not to mention that all japanese Yakuza fans are from the PS3 / PS4 too)
And now SEGA will just ignore this and put all of the new stuff exclusively on the Xbox,
even though the Xbox was the last platform on this whole Yakuza hype tour?
No way.
 
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Xbox is dead in Japan. Why should Sega want to bother with brand that nobody cares about in Japan.

If is true I need to consider buying the Box. Well played MS because I would have never even remotely considered a Xbox.

The best thing or Sega is to stay independent and I think that is what they are going to do.
 
The last thing that needs to happen is a big-ass moneyhat by Microsoft. I hate buyouts and believe they are detrimental to the industry.

Some make sense, such as Insomniac, who were essentially exclusive to PlayStation anyway.

Microsoft has struggled with their first party efforts outside of the Big 3(Gears, Forza, Halo) so their response to counter that narrative has been to simply just blank-check a bunch of developers.

I don't know what this revelation could be. Sega branding an Xbox in Japan isn't going to help it secure a foothold by that much. Sega being bought out is something I don't think they would ever go for. They are worth far more than I think even Microsoft would shell out.

Dreamcast coming to digital storefronts(Nintendo, etc.) would be pretty huge, but not "industry shaking".

I somewhat fear its a buyout, but evidence of that via shareholders would've leaked by now.

It *could* be the opposite and Sony has secured something exclusive, as it will be revealed the same day as their event.
 
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Phil the salesman Spencer or Aron Greenburg would have said something if there really was something going on. These guys are the masters of empy promises and teasers. And why should Sega do that? They still have Arcade Business going in Japan. Microsoft is not interested in Arcades. They want to sell a operation system. They want to make some kind of gaming windows their Gamepass. That is completely different strategy than Sega.
 
Tosh said:
Whatever it is, software deal, or some SEGA Microsoft hardware cooperation,
i'm pretty sure it wont have anything to do with the Shenmue IP / exclusive Shenmue 4.

It doesnt make much sense to put a Shenmue 4 exclusive on a brand new Xbox console
just to boost console sales with the SEGA name.
SEGA is not Rockstar Games or FromSoftware. The Xbox is non existent in Japan.
All of the Shenmue HD sales came from the PS4 in Japan,
all of the Shenmue 3 sales came from the PS4 in Japan. Whatever multi platform title it is,
the Xbox One was pretty much always on the last place worldwide. And now they want to
divide the fanbase even more because you can only get the game on the (new) Xbox?
So all of the success lies on people buying a (new) Xbox?
That sounds horrible, Shenmue 4 wouldnt probably even reach Shenmue 3 sales numbers.

Shenmue is not GTA or Dark Souls, the IP is not famous in Japan. I think there are way more fans in NA
and EU than in Japan. And would they all buy a new Xbox just because Shenmue
or Sega games are Xbox exclusive? No. Thats going to limit the fanbase even further.
I dont see how this would help us in any way.

Sounds more like a really big announcement to shock people
and then the IP dies silently again.

Also pretty much all of the core western Yakuza fans came from the PS3 and PS4,
they brought the IP back from the grave. (not to mention that all japanese Yakuza fans are from the PS3 / PS4 too)
And now SEGA will just ignore this and put all of the new stuff exclusively on the Xbox,
even though the Xbox was the last platform on this whole Yakuza hype tour?
No way.
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As much as I would love that Yu Suzuki went back to Sega and that Shenmue 4 got announced at this event I was merely jocking. Everyone knows that it is most unlikely not to say nearly impossible for it to happen, but at least we can carry on dreaming.
 
Valascaziel said:
The last thing that needs to happen is a big-ass moneyhat by Microsoft. I hate buyouts and believe they are detrimental to the industry.

Some make sense, such as Insomniac, who were essentially exclusive to PlayStation anyway.

Microsoft has struggled with their first party efforts outside of the Big 3(Gears, Forza, Halo) so their response to counter that narrative has been to simply just blank-check a bunch of developers.

I don't know what this revelation could be. Sega branding an Xbox in Japan isn't going to help it secure a foothold by that much. Sega being bought out is something I don't think they would ever go for. They are worth far more than I think even Microsoft would shell out.

Dreamcast coming to digital storefronts(Nintendo, etc.) would be pretty huge, but not "industry shaking".

I somewhat fear its a buyout, but evidence of that via shareholders would've leaked by now.

It *could* be the opposite and Sony has secured something exclusive, as it will be revealed the same day as their event.
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I doubt it will be Microsoft buying Sega, I believe it will be more of a partnership between the two companies.
But imagine Microsoft giving BIG BIG BIG BIG FAT CHECK to Sega to enter the japanese market, a check big enough for Sega to get back at the console industry, macking the future console wars of XBox vs Sony and Sega vs Nintendo.
I would love Sega to also launch a portable console that could compete with the Nintendo Switch.
I Can already Imagine myself playing Shenmue 1, 2 & 3 in the portable Sega Switch.:love::love::love:
 
Market isn't big enough to support a fourth player, even Sega.

The last person to enter the arena was Google, whose Stadia platform has been nothing short of a disaster with paltry support, etc.

All of us long to see Sega return with a Dreamcast 2, but those days are long gone. As Rocky said, "It's back there like all them guys on that wall. In the back..in the past."
 
For the life of me I have no idea why this "rumor" has gained so much traction when, at least afaik, not a single leaker has actually made this claim. That said, I don't think JP rebrand partnership would necessarily = Sega buyout.
 
Microsoft would shoot themselves in the foot if they wanna buy Sega now. Should've grabbed them back then before Sammy. It'd not look good to buy Sega Sammy and fire half the duplicate marketing teams,producers,PR,& the entire pachinko/Arcade division just to acquire only the studio dev talents. I'd be surprised if Xbox doesn't get boycotted as backlash.

Valascaziel said:
As Rocky said, "It's back there like all them guys on that wall. In the back..in the past."
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Tho I'm agreeing with you...I'd say keep one eye open for possibilities. Shenmue 3 becoming a reality has really change my perspective on these out of left field scenario.
 
SEGA seem pretty content with porting their stuff everywhere as of late so I don't see them doing the exclusivity route unless they were genuinely bought out by MS as a whole. And I don't see that happening. If I remember correctly, there were talks about MS buying SEGA back in the day after the Dreamcast came and went but it never panned out....might have been before the Dreamcast come to think of it.

But even then, MS doesn't even seem that interested in Exclusivity anymore considering they're openly porting their stuff between Xbox and PC as of late.

If this is a re branding deal -- say it's called SEGA Xbox Series X in Japan in an attempt to re brand the clusterfuck that is Xbox in Japan -- then I question will it really work? SEGA never really had a successful console in that market. Yes, the Saturn held its own well enough in Japan, but it didn't topple the PlayStation which was the dominant brand. The Mega Drive did not even come close to the SNES in Japan...and the Dreamcast did okay but not well enough to keep it alive.

SEGA's success in the console market mostly came from the west and it mostly came with the Genesis.

So i question the logic in re branding a dead brand with the name SEGA instead of Microsoft. Will it really spark any interest in that market? Last I checked, the Xbox One lifetime sales in Japan were abysmally low. Microsoft keeps trying, but the truth is it's largely a dead brand in Japan. It's been dead ever since it arrived.

So I question whether entering a supposed partnership to re brand as SEGA Xbox would really do anything to ignite the spark in Japan?

However, to lend credence to the rumor. If it is true and there is a partnership in the works then how does it benefit SEGA? Will Microsoft pay them to create exclusive IP's? Is there a beneficent upside to all of this? I can't see Yakuza leaving Sony consoles...that's too much of a risk and that's something they've seemingly been working hard to get everywhere they can to maximize visibility. But would it open the doors for other IP's to be exclusive to Xbox? But the last time they did that with the original Xbox, those games weren't exactly huge sellers. I think Jet Set Radio Future may have done okay, but I don't know if exclusivity helped them or not?

Then there is also the SONY factor. Sony has been quietly tightening its policies on what is acceptable and what isn't in games. Especially with Japanese studios. Could this be SEGA retaliating in a display of "fuck you" to Sony and its ever tightening policies?

Or could it be a streaming partnership? Maybe it's something as simple as the entire SEGA catalog is coming to Gamepass? Who knows?

I don't know. I'm interested to see what this announcement actually is. Whether it ends up being anything major remains to be seen.

Still, I have to admit, I would maybe buy a SEGA branded Xbox Series X if that should be the case...I would totally import one of those suckers from Japan just to have a new SEGA branded console in 2020.

As for how it affects Shenmue? I can't see it affecting Shenmue. They didn't have much to do with Shenmue III as was. It was literally them giving Yu permission to use the IP and nothing else really. I can't see it affecting a potential Shenmue IV at all really. SEGA will continue to have nothing to do with Shenmue and it will be entirely left to YSNet to find funds to complete it. If anything, I think the response to III is probably enough to justify SEGA's thought that it's not worth their time or effort to invest in. Not to talk disparagingly of SIII, but it hardly crossed over into the mainstream or set the charts on fire. Therefore it probably lends SEGA more credence to steer clear of investing in the future of the franchise. So I see it being something that YSNet will continue to pursue independently. As long as SEGA continues to let them use the IP.
 
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