The former Disney boss wants to turn the publisher of Persona and Yakuza into an entertainment company
Justin Scarpone became Sega's head of multimedia development earlier this year after serving as Disney's chief operating officer. Thanks to him, Sega wanted to become a global entertainment company – the manager decided to speculate about what fans should expect in the future.
According to Scarpone, the video games at which Sega excelled are the most important form of entertainment today. So the manager wanted to bring the system from Hollywood into the company. New franchises will be introduced through gameplay, and then the intellectual property can be licensed and expanded, just like Marvel has done.
“Game companies don't have a history of creating content, basically invented by Walt Disney, where they take franchises and develop content plans five to 10 years in advance, like Kevin Feige did with movies. By connecting this approach to all other businesses and developing a story based on different experiences, you get content products and services,” shares Scarpone.
Scarpone said helping Sega succeed with a similar approach is his main mission. He noted that the release of Sonic x Shadow Generations immediately before the third installment of Sonic the Movie with Shadow was not a random event but a carefully considered plan.
Sega's multimedia division includes several groups that Justin Scarpone was invited to unite and develop. He immediately wanted to focus on diversifying his team and skills to make it easier for them to operate and succeed. The teams will also be expanded towards the end of the financial year.
Scarpone noted that Sega's games are particularly successful in Asia, especially thanks to Steam, but the local media division lags behind the offices in the US and Europe. There are also differences in popular content – the manager believes that in the coming years, Persona will become the most famous Sega brand in China.
“Persona is a huge plus. The response from Chinese licensees and retailers for Persona, and now Metaphor: ReFantazio, has been a bit overwhelming. I didn't expect her to be so strong,” Scarpone said.
Finally, Sega has the opportunity to become an entertainment company. Justin Scarpone emphasized Nintendo's success in this area and called it the “big brother” to all Japanese companies in the gaming industry.
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