(Photo: Daryl Harding)
The bright lights of SEGA arcades illuminating the landscapes of Japan's urban sprawl will soon become a thing of the past as the new parent company of the business will be rebranding the legendary SEGA logos to GiGO as the company buys out the remaining bit of influence SEGA has over the veteran business.
本日、GENDA SEGA Entertainment の社名をGENDA GiGO Entertainment に変更致しました。また、株式会社SEGA様か保有されていた当社の株式14.9%の自社株買いを実施した事によりGENDA の持株比率が100%となりました。
— 片岡 尚 / GENDA会長 (@GENDA_Kataoka) January 28, 2022
The chairman of GENDA, the company that currently owns a majority stake in GENDA SEGA Entertainment – which runs the SEGA arcade business in Japan – announced today that GENDA has purchased the remaining 14.9% of shares of GENDA SEGA from SEGA to own 100% of the company. Because of this, GENDA SEGA Entertainment will be rebranded to GENDA GiGO Entertainment, and arcades across Japan will lose the iconic SEGA signage that has been in use for 56 years and be rebranded as GiGO.
全国のSEGAのお店の屋号をGiGOに切り替えていきます。SEGAの56年の歴史への感謝と、リアルなエンタメで人々の渇望を癒すオアシスになるという思いを込めました。ゲームのオアシスに飛び込め！Get into the Gaming Oasis の頭文字をとってGiGOです。
まずは池袋、秋葉原、新宿から。そして全国へ。 pic.twitter.com/bAMbdIXEkk— 片岡 尚 / GENDA会長 (@GENDA_Kataoka) January 28, 2022
According to the chairman's tweet, GiGO stands for "Get into the Gaming Oasis," hoping to entice people into a "realistic gaming oasis."
SEGA confirmed back in November 2020 that it had sold off a majority stake in the arcade business to GENDA while retaining a non-voting, non-controlling minority stake. The company allowed the new business to continue using the SEGA branding and IP in the arcades to smooth over the transition, as well as retain customer loyalty.
(Photo: Daryl Harding)
The first locations to be rebranded will be the new Ikebukuro store (and assumably the rest of the project), the Shinjuku arcades, and what's left of the arcades in Akihabara, with the rest of the arcades across Japan to be rebranded at a future, unspecified, date.
Sources: Nao Kataoka on Twitter (1, 2)
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Daryl Harding is a Japan Correspondent for Crunchyroll News. He also runs a YouTube channel about Japan stuff called TheDoctorDazza, tweets at @DoctorDazza, and posts photos of his travels on Instagram.
Source: Crunchyroll
