Sega lowers six month revenue forecast by 22 per cent
Taiyo subsidiary will offer "voluntary retirement" to 200 employees as part of restructuring effort
Upheaval in Sega's Pachislot and Pachinko business has prompted the company to reduce its revenue expectations by 22 per cent for the first half of the fiscal year.
Sega previously expected to earn ¥200 billion ($1.7 billion) in the six month period, but that has been knocked down 22 per cent to ¥156 billion ($1.3 billion). It has also altered its profit expectations from a ¥14 billion ($116 million) to ¥6.5 billion ($54 million), a drop of 53.6 per cent.
According to documents released by Sega, there were two main contributors to the change. One was the decision to delay the release of certain Pachislot and Pachinko machines to the second-half of the fiscal year. As a result, pachislot sales are expected to be 70,000 units, versus the original expectation of 165,000, and pachinko sales are expected to be 79,000 units, versus 110,000.
The second is more troubling, as it will require the "voluntary retirement" of around 200 people at Taiyo, one of Sega Sammy's subsidiaries.