After some back and forth, it looks like the SEGA Arcade will officially be disappearing from Japan, as they rebrand under new ownership from Genda GiGo.
When Genda first purchased the majority of shares in SEGA’s Entertainment branch, they had originally said they would keep the iconic SEGA branding, which features in games like Yakuza: Like A Dragon.
However, recent comments by Genda GiGO chairman Hisashi Kataoka are saying their stance has changed, and going forward all the arcades will feature teh GiGo branding instead.
“Sega stores across the country will be switching their store names to GiGO, to express our gratitude for Sega’s 56 years of history and our desire to be an oasis that quenches people’s thirst for real entertainment.”, he says. “We will start with Ikebukuro, Akihabara, and Shinjuku. Then to the whole country.”
The saga of SEGA Arcade has been a bumpy one indeed- first SEGA Sammy sold the branch to Genda, and announced the closure of the iconic Ikebukuro branch as well as the Akihabara branch.
Then it looked like the arcades were on the up and up, with two new arcades built to replace the old one.
This looks like the final nail in the coffin for the iconic Japanese fixtures, as they get replaced with more owner-accurate branding.
Source: VGC