Sega president and COO Shuji Utsumi says an more and more massive proportion of its fanbase contains individuals who have by no means truly performed a Sega recreation.
In an interview with Nikkei (as noticed by Automaton), Utsumi was requested for his ideas on the expansion of people who find themselves considering online game IP however don’t truly play any video games.
Utsumi replied that Sega had been noticing such adjustments, and cited the Like a Dragon / Yakuza collection particularly as a Sega property that has a rising following of followers who watch gameplay on-line however purchase merchandise as a substitute of the video games themselves.
“You’re completely proper – in recent times, the variety of such followers has been rising throughout all our titles,” Utsumi mentioned (by way of machine translation), noting that its demographics are altering over time.
“For instance, the Like a Dragon collection has seen large success in merchandising, with ladies making up 60-70% of the shopper base,” he mentioned, implying that this isn’t the case with the video games.
“Individuals watch our YouTube channel, or streams by well-liked YouTubers, and develop into followers of the Like a Dragon universe, its story and its characters. Amongst them are many individuals who’ve by no means truly performed the sport.”
Utsumi acknowledged that regardless that most Sega followers play the corporate’s video games, it nonetheless values those that don’t play the video games however are nonetheless engaged with its IP, saying it considers them followers and ‘avid gamers’ in their very own proper.
“The energy of transmedia lies in the truth that it will increase the entry factors and touchpoints by which individuals can develop into within the IP,” he defined. “In some circumstances, their engagement is even larger than that of followers who truly play the sport.”
Utusmi additionally recalled his time at cellular recreation developer Cybird, the place he was president and CEO earlier than leaving to rejoin SegaSammy in 2019. He defined how throughout that point he noticed how merchandising modified for the corporate’s video games.
“I beforehand labored on romance video games geared toward a feminine viewers once I labored at Cybird,” he defined. There, I witnessed a serious shift in merchandising.
“Along with conventional collectibles like pin badges and acrylic stands, we noticed the emergence of lifestyle-oriented licensed merchandise – equivalent to attire and cosmetics for on a regular basis use – in addition to limited-edition and commemorative objects created in collaboration with amusement amenities.
“That have definitely broadened my horizons, and I imagine it’s informing the transmedia technique I’m implementing right here at Sega as nicely.”