Sega president and COO Shuji Utsumi says an increasingly large proportion of its fanbase includes people who have never actually played a Sega game.
In an interview with Nikkei (as spotted by Automaton), Utsumi was asked for his thoughts on the growth of people who are interested in video game IP but don’t actually play any games.
Utsumi replied that Sega had been noticing such changes, and cited the Like a Dragon / Yakuza series in particular as a Sega property that has a growing following of fans who watch gameplay online but buy merchandise instead of the games themselves.
“You’re absolutely right – in recent years, the number of such fans has been growing across all our titles,” Utsumi said (via machine translation), noting that its demographics are changing over time.
“For example, the Like a Dragon series has seen tremendous success in merchandising, with women making up 60-70% of the customer base,” he said, implying that this isn’t the case with the games.
“People watch our YouTube channel, or streams by popular YouTubers, and become fans of the Like a Dragon universe, its story and its characters. Among them are many people who have never actually played the game.”
Utsumi stated that even though most Sega fans play the company’s games, it still values those who don’t play the games but are still engaged with its IP, saying it considers them fans and ‘gamers’ in their own right.
“The strength of transmedia lies in the fact that it increases the entry points and touchpoints through which people can become interested in the IP,” he explained. “In some cases, their engagement is even higher than that of fans who actually play the game.”
Utusmi also recalled his time at mobile game developer Cybird, where he was president and CEO before leaving to rejoin SegaSammy in 2019. He explained how during that time he saw how merchandising changed for the company’s games.
“I previously worked on romance games aimed at a female audience when I worked at Cybird,” he explained. There, I witnessed a major shift in merchandising.
“In addition to traditional collectibles like pin badges and acrylic stands, we saw the emergence of lifestyle-oriented licensed products – such as apparel and cosmetics for everyday use – as well as limited-edition and commemorative items created in collaboration with amusement facilities.
“That experience certainly broadened my horizons, and I believe it’s informing the transmedia strategy I’m implementing here at Sega as well.”
