Sega will be cutting its profits forecast by 36%, to ¥47 billion to ¥30 billion (or $234 million) for the financial year ending March 31, 2014, GamesIndustry.biz is reporting.
These aren’t the only forecast reductions- Sega has cut its revenue forecast by 23 per cent, from ¥485 billion to ¥377 billion ($3.7 billion), and their operating income will suffer a crippling loss: a 49 per cent drop from ¥73 billion to ¥37 billion ($364 million).
There may be multiple factors to attribute this to- the transitional period the gaming industry currently finds itself in, as the old consoles get phased out, and new ones get phased in. Or the transition period Sega itself finds itself in, as it moves away from retail and packaged products, and moves to being a primarily digital only games developer.
Sega itself says that the games side were not the cause of the problem, but that it was a drop in sales for both its Pachislot/Pachinko and Amusement Machines divisions, which makes sense, I guess.
Hopefully the coming year is better for them.