Company has lost money, refocusing efforts on Sonic

Feb 6, 2012 22:31 GMT  ·  By

Video game publisher SEGA has confirmed that this year will see the return of two fan events linked to core character Sonic, coming during the summer with presentations and occasions to get hands-on time with the upcoming titles in the series.

Sonic Boom will take place alongside the San Diego-based Comic Con event and will take place on July 13 at the House of Blues.

Fans will not need a Comic Con badge to attend and SEGA says that those who love Sonic will have plenty of reasons to stop by, including an exclusive chance to play Sonic 4: Episode Two, which is widely expected to arrive during the second half of 2012.

Summer of Sonic will offer the same chance and will take place in London on July 7, complete with competitions for fan art, pods for speed runs and the above mentioned hands-on time with unreleased games.

SEGA has also revealed financial information for the last nine months of 2011, showing that it has managed to get 49 billion Yen worth of revenue (660 million dollars and 502.8 million Euro).

The company has managed to sell 12.6 million copies of its various titles during the period, which is one million lower than during the same period of 2010, resulting in an overall loss of 5.5 billion Yen (72.2 million dollars or 55 million Euro).

SEGA has stated that Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games has managed to sell 2.4 million units in the United States and in Europe, while Sonic Generations has managed to move 1.6 million copies to gamers.

SEGA has made Sonic the center of its strategy and has also been mining its back catalog for titles that can be remade and re-releases on home consoles using High Definition graphics.

Sonic 4: Episode Two is planned for launch during 2012 with a number of new levels for fans to enjoy.