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MCV 01/05/09 25
MCV INTERVIEW JOHN CLARK, SEGA UK SALES DIRECTOR ALAN PRITCHARD, SEGA EUROPE NORTH MD
x THE SEGA EMPIRE: Pritchard (right) and Clark (left) have enjoyed strong sales during the first half of 2009
Sega’s superstars Sega UK’s sales team claimed an MCV Award last week after impressive performances from House of the Dead and Empire: Total War. Christopher Dring speaks to Sega UK’s Alan Pritchard and John Clark about what retail can look forward to over the next six months…
Looking back at your first quarter, what would you say were the highlights for Sega? Alan Pritchard: Without a doubt Empire: Total War. The sell-through in the first weekend made this the fastest selling Total War game to date and consequentially took it to No.1 of the All Formats Charts. We have also seen good solid performances from Sega Mega Drive Collection on PS3 and Xbox 360 and House of the Dead: Overkill on Wii.
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John Clark: Our performance has been great. We’re in the top six publishers without launching a multi-format title. Maintaining catalogue sales and delivering strong new releases continues to provide a healthy platform for us.
Why did you release your latest software in the first quarter as opposed to the traditional key periods of Easter and Christmas? AP: Sometimes it can be advantageous to avoid the cluster of titles pre-Christmas
JC: The first quarter allows a solid release schedule to breathe. Christmas and Easter are not only high footfall periods but are campaign heavy. February and March releases allow for improved shelf visibility.
The PC market is in decline. But when titles like The Sims hit shelves, they can still command strong sales.
Empire: Total War was a big hit upon release. Why do you feel the game has managed to be such a success Alan Pritchard, Sega when other PC titles have struggled? and going head-to-head against so many AP: It is a fact that the PC market is in triple-A annualised releases that account decline. In 2008 there were a number for so much of the pre-Christmas sales. of triple-A PC titles that didn’t materialise. The cost of media can also be less in When games like The Sims, Total War February and March, which can also and Football Manager do hit the shelves help gain an increase in awareness they are still able to command strong and mindshare. sales compared to the previous iterations.
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