SEGA Announces Restructure, Cuts

Among the measures that will be taken are the relocations of its San Francisco office to Southern California and the elimination of at least 300 regular employees primarily though voluntary early retirement.

The transition of the company's business to Southern California and the closure of its San Francisco office is expected to be completed by early summer.

SEGA’s game release schedule will not be affected by the move and the "Sonic Boom" TV series, currently airing on Cartoon Network in the U.S., will continue its run through 2015.

As part of the restructure, SEGA has targeted digital games, in particular smartphone and PC online gaming, as a growth area and will look to cut other areas of the business in order to drive growth in this division. One of the areas already slated for downsizing is SEGA's amusement business, where the

“This move was crucial to keep SEGA operations moving forward throughout North America and to provide our millions of fans a strong pipeline of content across gaming, TV, merchandising and more,” says John Cheng, president and chief operating officer, SEGA of America. “We are confident that by relocating to Southern California we will be able to thrive, grow and become a stronger company because of it.”