Turns out, a lot of Sega's biggest fans don't play its videogames: 'In some cases, their engagement is even higher than that of fans who actually play'
There once was a time in which, if you were a fan of a videogame, you might get asked which of said games in the series you had played. Now, I'm not saying we need to bring this era back—it was an obnoxious period full of gatekeepers—but Sega president and COO Shuji Utsumi's recent words on the subject are a surprising...
There once was a time in which, if you were a fan of a videogame, you might get asked which of said games in the series you had played. Now, I'm not saying we need to bring this era back—it was an obnoxious period full of gatekeepers—but Sega president and COO Shuji Utsumi's recent words on the subject are a surprising sign of the times.
Speaking to Nikkei Gaming (thanks, IGN), Utsumi explains that (via machine translation): "For example, the 'Yakuza' series has been doing exceptionally well in merchandising, with 60-70% of its buyers being women. They've become fans of the 'Yakuza' world, story, and characters after watching our YouTube channel and popular YouTubers' streams. And among them are many people who have never actually played the game."
I'm assuming that Utsumi has stats to back that up, rather than just assuming that women don't play videogames (they do, I work with several of them), but it's indeed true that videogames have been enjoying a wider secondary audience thanks to let's players and streamers.
"Even people who have never played games are considered fans and 'gamers' by us," he adds, "transmedia's strength lies in increasing the entry points and contact points for people to become interested in IP. In some cases, their engagement is even higher than that of fans who actually play the games."
That buzzword—transmedia—essentially just means merchandise, movies, comics, and so on. Videogames might be a cornerstone for Sega, but it's using that as a foundation to build up a heap of other points of sale and advertising opportunities: "For example, if there are overseas users who are interested in the scene where a character eats a beef bowl in Yakuza, even a beef bowl can become merchandise. I think that's what merchandising is all about these days."
You heard it here first, folks—we're merchandising beef bowls, now. Maybe if it'd come out six years later, we'd be getting Ichiban-branded bread. It did look good for prison food.
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Original reporting appears on the publisher’s site.
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