Following the closure of several locations over the past two years, SEGA has announced that it is exiting the arcade business in Japan by selling its remaining locations to Genda, Inc. (aka GiGO).
As spotted by Tojo Dojo, SEGA is selling its remaining 14.9% shares in arcades to Genda, Inc. This means Genda will soon be the full owner of the arcade business, with existing SEGA locations to be rebranded as GiGO Arcades.
SEGA exiting the business is due to a variety of factors, the biggest of which is the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Since the pandemic started last year, SEGA arcades have struggled, leading to closures of several locations, as well as the sale of over 85% of SEGA’s business to Genda back in 2020.
全国のSEGAのお店の屋号をGiGOに切り替えていきます。SEGAの56年の歴史への感謝と、リアルなエンタメで人々の渇望を癒すオアシスになるという思いを込めました。ゲームのオアシスに飛び込め！Get into the Gaming Oasis の頭文字をとってGiGOです。
まずは池袋、秋葉原、新宿から。そして全国へ。 pic.twitter.com/bAMbdIXEkk— 片岡 尚 / GENDA会長 (@GENDA_Kataoka) January 28, 2022
While arcades aren’t that popular anymore in most countries (owing to PC, console, and mobile games), large arcades have managed to stay in business in Japan, even in the past decade. Given this, it’s sad to see SEGA leave the business given that the company is an icon for its arcades. Here’s hoping that the GiGO arcade won’t close down anytime soon so that overseas fans may still be able to visit them when pandemic restrictions are lifted.