SEGA is opening a new studio in Sapporo
Phantasy Star Online 2 producer Takaya Segawa will serve as the studio head.
SEGA Corporation has announced the creation of a new studio based in Sapporo, Japan. Officially established on Dec. 1, 2021, the Sapporo studio will be responsible for designing and programming new games for the company. It will also handle debugging for SEGA software.
Sapporo is the largest city in Hokkaido, Japan (the northernmost region of the country) with a population of nearly 2 million. Being the cultural and political center of Hokkaido, it makes perfect sense for SEGA to establish a new studio there.
Currently, we don’t know of any titles in work at the new Japan studio. It’s likely that as the Sapporo office finds its footing, it will work on already-in-development titles before starting its own projects.
What we know about the SEGA Sapporo studio
This new branch will handle game development and debugging for SEGA titles, including design and programming. Takaya Segawa, a producer on Phantasy Star Online 2, is acting as the president and CEO of the studio. SEGA previously filed trademarks for SEGA Sapporo Studio in October.
SEGA Corporation published a press release on the formation of the Sapporo studio. We’ve included an excerpt below — though be warned, this is based on a rough machine translation:
Due to the rapid progress of digital transformation (DX) in recent years, various barriers such as devices, platforms, countries and regions are being removed in the game industry. This is also due to the diversification of game usage and the accompanying increase in users. With the global expansion of the market, the demand for game content is also increasing, and there is an urgent need for software manufacturers to strengthen their development system. In response, SEGA established “SEGA Sapporo Studio” to secure a high-quality and stable development line. At this studio, locally-hired employees play a central role in designing and programming our game software, as well as debugging work to check the quality of our products.
SEGA Corporation
Are you excited to see what SEGA Sapporo Studio creates? Let us know!
Via SEGA Corporation.
