Peter Moore looks back at the exact moment he decided to leave SEGA

Peter Moore had been the final SEGA of America CEO that was at the helm of a SEGA console launch; Originally working on marketing for Reebok, Moore jumped ship to SEGA in 1998 to help the launch of Dreamcast, which had done very well. Unfortunately, the Dreamcast’s success did not last very long, as SEGA had announced its exit from the console business in 2001.

In a recent interview with Peter Moore, he recalls the exact moment that cause him to leave the company. Following SEGA’s announcement in 2001, Moore became frustrated with SEGA and their inability to see the trends of the future. He believe that more mature games and cinematic experiences would make SEGA relevant again. He had SEGA of America’s division ask young adults about their thoughts on the various gaming companies, and showed this data to SEGA of Japan. 

“Yuji Naka, Naka-san, maker of Sonic, is in the room. Now, he and I have a love/hate relationship on a good day. And we show him this, and it’s subtitled in Japanese, and when it comes to that piece he just [slams his hand on the table], ‘This is ridiculous. You have made them say this. Sega is the great brand, nobody would ever say this, you have falsified!’ He just gets in my face. So I said to the translator, ‘Tell him to fuck off.’ And the poor guy looks at me and says, ‘There’s no expression in Japanese.’ I said, ‘I know there is.’ And that was it. That was the last time I ever set foot in there.”

Moore believed that development heads at SEGA (Naka and Suzuki) were holding back the company and believed they should be going forward with mature games. 

“The world was changing around them, and we were desperate,” Moore told Glixel. “I said that we’ve got to get content that is mature. It’s ironic to me that one of their best-selling games, subsequent to all of that, is now Yakuza.”

What are your thoughts on Peter Moore’s story? Discuss them in the comments below!

Via Polygon