Sega Europe hit with layoffs

SEGA has announced layoffs at its European division based in London in an effort to reconstruct its departments. The Sonic the Hedgehog and Mobile departments will be consolidated within SEGA of America Inc. based in San Francisco, California.

Speaking to Polygon, SEGA of America confirmed the job losses and said:

“Sega is in the process of consolidating certain functions of the Sonic and Mobile departments within Sega of America, where the management and production for those areas of the business reside,” we were told. “As part of that strategy a limited number of redundancies have taken effect in our European office, based in London.”

This comes following layoffs late the previous year as a reaction to the “ever-changing environment” of the game industry, and closures of several offices in both Europe and Australia back in 2012 to focus on their four main franchises: Sonic, Aliens, Football Manager and Total War. Regardless, all the best to the people affected by this move for the future!

RUMOUR: Sonic the Hedgehog to be adapted into a film

The new Sonic the Hedgehog film is allegedly in production by Columbia Pictures. The new film will be aimed at adult audiences rather than younger child audiences (as the new Sonic the Hedgehog TV series, Sonic Boom has).

Website The Tracking Board said that:

It’s recently been confirmed that a movie adaptation of SONIC THE HEDGEHOG is in development at Columbia Pictures, with the studio going for a dark, edgy version skewed towards older audiences! NOT ONLY this, but the studio plans to make it a mix of live-action and animation, allowing the much loved character to really meld with reality.

[....]Original Films and SEGA are onboard to finance, with Neal Moritz and Toby Ascher producing. Samuel Dickerman, Hannah Minghella, and Foster Driver are overseeing the project as executives at Columbia.

The only thing to do now is find a writer for the project, and an awesome shortlist has already been put together with some real heavy hitters:

• Brad Bird (“Incredibles, “”Wall-E,” “Brave,” “Toy Story 2,” “Up”)
• Wernick & Reese (“Deadpool,” “Monsters Inc,” “Zombieland,” “GI Joe Retaliation”)
• David Berenbaum (“The Spiderwick Chronicles,” “Elf”)
• Phil Johnston (“Wreck it Ralph” and “Nebraska”)

Sonic has a long history, as it’s been adapted for the small screen numerous times in the past – once as an animated movie (1996) and once as an animated television series (1993). This project currently in development, however, will bring an entirely new edge to the story, revealing the darker side of the blue hedgehog. It’s a smart move by Columbia, as many fans of the original game are now into their late 20′s to early 30′s, and would need a stronger draw to get them into the theater. It also allows relatively new fans to join in – those who only know Sonic from the new Nintendo Wii versions or their Android/iPhone devices. Someone at Columbia is either a huge fan of the hedgehog themselves, or they just have a really good sense of the current market. Either way we are not complaining, as the movie could be a really big hit if development continues in this direction. 

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