In a hilarious turn of events, it appears that Sega is not only looking at copying Nintendo’s success with its retail locations but is potentially going to open its own store in the same building as Nintendo Tokyo. In speaking with VGC at Gamescom Asia, Sega’s transmedia boss Justin Scarpone said that in Summer 2025, Sega will be opening a store in Shibuya’s Parco department complex. For those unaware, that’s the same building that houses Nintendo Tokyo, the official Capcom outlet, and even the Pokémon Center. Sega will eventually expand its store to Shanghai, China, via a partner company in the future.
Scarpone explained to VGC that the decision to launch a retail Sega outlet was driven by the desire to put Sega in front of more consumers. These plans were spurred on by the sale of Sega’s Japanese arcade business a few years ago, which closed all Sega arcades still in operation. “One of the core things about our transmedia team is we are really focused on elevating and strengthening the Sega brand,” Scarpone stated.
As Scarpone believes, customers don’t see enough Sega when they go into retail stores. Some of that could come down to players opting for digital releases over physical ones and some of it could be because Sega’s only massive brand is the Sonic franchise. “Our portfolio is very broad, but the common thread is the Sega brand,” Scarpone said. “Sega is a consumer brand that is surprisingly not in front of consumers enough. Sonic is, but Sega isn’t.”
Interestingly, Scarpone was brought onto Sega earlier this year specifically to rectify this. Coming from a successful career in Disney, of all companies, Scarpone is set to transform Sega from “the company that makes Sonic” into a global icon much like Nintendo. The first step was to take Sonic to the cinema and make a successful film series. The next step is to repeat that success for other brands (which is probably why Amazon will soon be launching a Like a Dragon series).
You can read more about Scarpone’s plans over on VGC, which houses a longer interview with him.
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Written by Peter Glagowski
Peter has been a freelance gaming and film critic for over seven years. His passion for Nintendo is only matched by the size of his collection.
