Sega President Admits they "Betrayed Fan Trust"

Has anyone else noticed that, at least for the past few years, Sega has had a much better run as a publisher than it has ever had as a developer? It’s published such massive hits as Total War: Attila and Alien: Isolation, while it developed games such as… Sonic Boom! And Sonic Runners, the ‘free to play’ mobile running game starring everyone’s tired, outdated hedgehog!

So yeah, they’re in a bit of a rut right now, as far as development goes. A rut the company appears to be fully aware of, according to Sega president Hajime Satomi in a talk with Famitsu, a Japanese gaming magazine:
 

"As far as the Western market goes, we learned a lot from Atlus. If we can make a title with proper quality, I believe there's a good chance for it to do well even in the West for players that like to play Japanese games. I've been talking to the employees about how we should start putting serious consideration into quality from this point on. Especially in North America and Europe, where it's always been more of a focus on schedules, I believe that if we can't maintain quality, it would be better to not release anything at all."

So, Sega’s been around since 1960, has been making games since 1982, and only now, thirty-three years later, they’ve learned that people buy quality products? Gosh, Mr. Satomi, it must be that kind of brain learnin’ that got you to be president of that there game company!
 

"We did our best to build a relationship of mutual trust with older fans of Sega, but looking back, there have been some titles that have partially betrayed that trust in the past 10 years. Sega in the '90s was known for its brand, but after that, we've lost trust and we were left with nothing but reputation. For this reason, we'd like to win back the customers' trust and become a brand once again."

Well, it’s good of him to say it, if nothing else. Fortunately, their reputation in the '80s and '90s was so solid that they’ve been able to weather about a decade’s worth of bad press (there’s a reason people still buy Sonic games, after all) on that foundation, but it seems the Satomi’s starting to feel the rock give way under him.

If this means anything or if it’s just a standard issue games industry pseudo-apology is debatable, but honestly, I’d argue that it’s probably one of the more sincere apologies you’ll hear this year. I mean, nothing prompted this: there was no critical failure of a Sega title in recent months, and there’s no controversy surrounding anything they’ve done… so there’s not really an agenda behind it. Which is good.

Still, this is Sega—there’s a reason the Sonic Cycle got its name, and it’s possible it has become so ubiquitous with Sega they’re starting to mimic the motions in real life. I’m still hoping it’s a sign of real change, though… after all, I’ve already pre-ordered my copy of Sonic Boom—Ice and Fire!