Shibuya PARCO, a popular shopping destination in Tokyo, is home to Nintendo Tokyo, Capcom Store Tokyo, and the Pokémon Center Shibuya. According to SEGA’s transmedia boss Justin Scarpone in an interview with Video Games Chronicle, SEGA is set to join their fellow gaming giants in the physical retail space next summer. They’re also planning on opening a shop with a partner in Shanghai in the near future.
According to Scarpone, the biggest motivator is to get the SEGA brand in front of more people. With the sale and closure of Sega arcades, including their famous Akihabara arcade in September 2020, SEGA was motivated to reintroduce themselves to consumers via the retail market. “It’s really exciting,” he said. “We need to do a lot more of that, because SEGA is a consumer brand that is surprisingly not in front of consumers enough. Sonic is, but SEGA isn’t.”
While Sonic is probably SEGA’s best-known IP, they also own other massive franchises such as Bayonetta, Like a Dragon (Yakuza), Super Monkey Ball, and more. With such dedicated fans to many of their IPs, it’s only natural to want to tap into the retail market in the same way as some of their peers.
You can read more of Scarpone’s interview with Video Games Chronicle on their website.
