{"id":54312,"date":"2025-11-26T18:47:52","date_gmt":"2025-11-26T09:47:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/?p=54312"},"modified":"2025-11-26T18:47:54","modified_gmt":"2025-11-26T09:47:54","slug":"sega-is-aware-its-past-definitive-version-releases-could-be-deterring-players-from-buying-games-at-launch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/sega-is-aware-its-past-definitive-version-releases-could-be-deterring-players-from-buying-games-at-launch\/","title":{"rendered":"Sega is aware its past \u201cdefinitive version\u201d releases could be deterring players from buying games at launch"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Sega Sammy Holdings recently <a href=\"https:\/\/www.segasammy.co.jp\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/pdf\/ja\/ir\/20251114_q2_major_QA_j.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">published<\/a> a summary of a shareholders\u2019 Q&amp;A session that took place during the company\u2019s second quarter financial briefing for the fiscal year ending March 2026. As reported by <a href=\"https:\/\/gamebiz.jp\/news\/416531\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">GameBiz<\/a>, the Q&amp;A session covered a range of topics, including a sudden drop in sales of catalogue titles (games released during past fiscal years) compared to the previous year, and revenue fluctuations largely impacted by some of Sega\u2019s new full-price and free-to-play titles. Namely, it was brought up that Sega has released a number of critically acclaimed titles in the past couple of years, but despite the positive reception and high praise for their quality, sales performance fell short of expectations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"960\" height=\"540\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 960px) 100vw, 960px\" src=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/20251126-543120001.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-54315\" srcset=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/20251126-543120001.jpg 960w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/20251126-543120001-380x214.jpg 380w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/20251126-543120001-768x432.jpg 768w\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Addressing the issue, Sega explained that some of the possible causes could be the presence of rival titles in the same genres, as well as the games\u2019 initial pricings. The company also pointed out that players expecting \u201cdefinitive editions\u201d of games to be released in the future could be what\u2019s making them hesitant to buy the titles at launch. \u201cWhile we haven\u2019t 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\u2019t able to sufficiently convey the appeal of our games to users,\u201d said Sega\u2019s spokespersons, reassuring investors that they are currently analyzing the problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While the underperforming titles in question weren\u2019t specified, players in Japan <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/Renka_schedule\/status\/1993511312132088046?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">theorize<\/a> the \u201cdefinitive edition\u201d problem could likely be linked to games developed by Atlus. As one of the more recent examples, Shin Megami Tensei V was released in late 2021, and an updated version, Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance, launched in mid-2024, less than 3 years later. This seems to be the standard pattern for many of Atlus\u2019 new releases, including the Persona series.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"672\" height=\"378\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 672px) 100vw, 672px\" src=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/20251126-543120002.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-54316\" srcset=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/20251126-543120002.jpg 672w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/20251126-543120002-380x214.jpg 380w\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>When it comes to sales, Atlus\u2019 critically acclaimed RPG Metaphor: ReFantzio sold 1 million units on day one, which was an incredible feat for Sega. However, the title witnessed a sharper drop in sales post-launch, reaching 2 million units only around half a year after its debut (as reported by <a href=\"https:\/\/gamerant.com\/metaphor-refantazio-sales-lifetime-official-figures-dropoff-trend\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">GameRant<\/a>). Of course, there are various different factors contributing to how dales fluctuate, but it does seem like some players <a href=\"https:\/\/steamcommunity.com\/app\/2679460\/discussions\/0\/4335357742816936848\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">are waiting for a \u201cdefinitive edition\u201d of the game<\/a> to drop in a couple of years \u2013 hence the hesitation to buy the base game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Related articles:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/atlus-is-one-of-our-most-successful-acquisition-deals-to-date-sega-sammy-reports-strong-sales-of-metaphor-refantazio\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">\u201cAtlus is one of our most successful acquisition deals to date\u201d Sega Sammy reports strong sales of Metaphor: ReFantazio\u00a0<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sega\u2019s full-price games aren\u2019t selling much compared to how highly they\u2019re rated, and the company cites &#8220;definitive editions&#8221; as one of the possible reasons.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":79,"featured_media":54319,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[261,17],"class_list":["post-54312","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-financial-news","tag-japan-related-news"],"blocksy_meta":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - 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