Oftentimes, game studios like Sega do not reveal their overall sales numbers directly, and rather speak in terms of projections, meeting targets, or outperforming expectations. While some platforms can report some of these numbers automatically for us, like Steam, the aggregate is only released in specific bursts. This is especially true of AAA studios. Square Enix, for example, is notorious for simply stating that sales did not meet expectations (see: Final Fantasy VII Rebirth and Final Fantasy XVI). That is why Sega accidentally leaking their sales numbers for some of their biggest-name series caught the industry’s attention.
Sega Sales Leaks Highlights Their Success Across Genres
Image of Sonic Racing Crossworlds, courtesy of Sega.Sega Sammy, a corporate entity that combines the video game side of the business with other entertainment branches. While the video game studio was ultimately run out of the console space with the emergence of PlayStation and Xbox in the late 90s and early 2000s, they have maintained a hold on many of their IPs, and have expanded their reach to even broader audiences across multiple platforms. Sonic is, of course, the name that has become synonymous with Sega, but they have also become a huge player in the JRPG space, with series like Persona and Yakuza/Like a Dragon.
The Sega Sammy website made a bit of a blunder earlier in the week, though, when they accidentally published a ‘Management Meeting’ presentation that included sales data for all of their major games. It gave us insight into where the studio stands, and as it appears, they are doing quite well for themselves. It should come as no surprise that the popular platformer mascot, Sonic, is doing quite well for itself. Sonic Frontiers tops the franchise’s sales at 4.5 million copies, but Team Sonic Racing is at 3.5 million, and Sonic Superstars also did well for what it was, at an impressive 2.4 million copies.
Sonic was not the only source of pride for the Sega corporation. JRPGs have also been quite a success story for the gaming giant. Persona 3 Reload, game of the year nominee Metaphor: ReFantazio, and Shin Megami Tensei 5: Vengeance have all pushed past the 2 million mark, as JRPGs once again gain in popularity, in large part due to the marketing work of these very franchises. Yakuza: Like a Dragon has also had success, nearing 3 million copies sold, and the newest entry, Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, is rapidly approaching 2 million.
The biggest kahoona for them of all their games, though, is Persona 5. Given that Sega has been doing everything they can to bleed any bit of success they possibly can out of the game through spinoffs and other connected works, which is truly the epitome of an “evergreen” title in gaming terms. Persona 5 Royal alone has sold over 7.5 million copies, among, if not the, highest totals of any JRPG in recent memory. On top of that, the original Persona 5 adds an additional 3 million in sales. Atlus might as well drag their feet here, and focus on remastering earlier titles and starting new IPs as well, despite fans begging for the newest entry.
Final Thoughts
Sega and, in many cases, Atlus, have had a great deal of success, if these sales numbers are any indication, and compared to the rest of the industry. Persona 5, specifically, is there behemoth, so no rushing is necessary to get Persona 6 out. All we know is this simple quote from the development team. “We are actively preparing for the future development of the Persona series as a studio. We are working hard to meet the expectations of fans around the world, and our work is progressing well. Please stay tuned for more updates. We look forward to your continued support of the Persona series.”
Sega has more games releasing soon, including Sonic Racing Crossworld, and if history is any indication, expect strong sales numbers and popularity, yet again, even if the team never wanted us to see the numbers in the first place.
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