Sega Sammy sells off arcade business as COVID takes its toll

Sega Sammy, the holdings company above game maker Sega, has sold its amusement center business to Genda, citing significant losses due to COVID-19 as one of the key reasons behind the sale.

The deal sees Sega Sammy selling off 85.1 percent of its shares in Sega Entertainment, its amusement center subsidiary. That sale of shares deals entirely with the group’s arcade business and won’t directly impact its video game development dealings.

That Amusement Center side of Sega Sammy was, according to a press release put out by the company, hit hard by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and remains in uncertain waters despite “recent recovery trends.”

Specifics on that impact will no doubt become clear when Sega Sammy shares its quarterly financials later this week, but the press release notes that “utilization of facilities as declined remarkably and a significant loss was recorded” at the close of the previous quarter.

“We have been considering various options in order to adapt to these changes in business aiming for improvement of the profitability and early recovery of sales of Amusement Center Operations area," explains a press release. "In this process, we have been discussing the transfer of SE shares to Genta,a company that has a strong desire to expand Amusement Center Operations business and has decided to conclude the share transfer agreement at [the] Board of Directors meeting held today.”