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Sega has seen quite an eventful year with its franchises likeSonic the Hedgehog,Like a DragonandPersona, all having had new installments released. The company has officially released its Fiscal Year (April 2023 to March 2024) Q4financial results, which highlight these three franchises in their report. Let’s take a look at those numbers, shall we?
Review: Sonic Frontiers
Sonic Frontiers is a hugely ambitious new direction for the series that comes close to hitting on all cylinders.
Sonic The Hedgehog
Thereportalso covers the 2022 and 2023 Fiscal Year results, which are important to note considering the difference in platform games and mainstream attention. To start, the Sonic series saw a total of 5.8 million copies sold worldwide during its 2022 Fiscal Year (April 2021 to March 2022). Q2 and Q3 brought in 3.9 million copies with the release ofSonic Colors: Ultimate(Q3).
The Sonic the Hedgehog series had 8.15 million copies sold during its 2023 Fiscal Year (April 2022 to March 2023), which gave the company a 2.35 million increase in copies from 2022’s sales. As usual, the Q2 and Q3 sales garnered the most sales with 5.29 million copies, which is about 91% of what the series brought in during its 2022 Fiscal Year. It’s important to note thatSonic Originswas released in June 2022 (Q2) andSonic Frontierswas released in November 2022 (Q3). The company saw its highest sales during Q3 with a total of 2 million copies. One might also suggest that the increase in sales could derive from the release of theSonic the Hedgehog 2film.
…Q2 and Q3 sales garnered the most sales with 5.29 million copies, which is about 91% of what the series brought in during its 2022 Fiscal Year.
From 2024’s Fiscal Year (April 2023 to March 2024), the Sonic series brought in 5.92 million copies sold, which is 120k more than 2022’s report. Q3 brought in 2.34 million due to the releases ofSonic Dream Team,Sonic SuperstarsandThe Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog. As you’re able to see, the numbers are similar to 2022, given that Sega didn’t release any mainline Sonic game like they did the previous year with Sonic Frontiers. With this being said, these numbers are still essential considering the Sonic franchise is internationally well-known. It will be interesting to see, as this year, Sega is emphasizing its"Fearless: Year of Shadow"campaign, where we will see Shadow the Hedgehog making his appearances inSonic X Shadow Generationsand in theSonic the Hedgehog 3film.
Review: Persona 3 Reload
Persona 3 Reload may not be the definite version but it is an excellent remake of Persona 3
According to thereport, the Persona series had 1.3 million copies sold during its 2022 Fiscal Year. The highest sales they had were during Q1, which had 400k copies while the rest had 300k. While these numbers may look underwhelming, the Persona series didn’t have any games launched during that year, so most of these are from its previous installments, likePersona 5 RoyalandPersona 5 Strikers.
The numbers for fiscal year 2023 started to decrease, with its Q2 sales at 230k, but dramatically increased with the release of Persona 5 Royal on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S. Q3 and Q4 brought 2.77 million copies into the mix, with an increase in 2.1% of the entire 2022 Fiscal Year. In the end, the series had sold 3.27 million copies.
With the releases ofPersona 5 TacticaandPersona 3 Reload, the 2024 Fiscal Year brought in around 5 million copies, giving the series a 1.5% increase over its previous year, and around a 3.9% increase over the 2022 Fiscal Year. Furthermore, Persona 5 Tactica launched in November and Persona 3 Reload was released in February 2024. As expected, the highest amount of copies sold was during Q3 and Q4, which brought in around 82% of the total during the year.
…the 2024 Fiscal Year brought in around 5 million copies, giving the series a 1.5% increase over its previous year, and around a 3.9% increase over the 2022 Fiscal Year.
Review: Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth
A return to turn-based combat finds Infinite Wealth deliver one of the series' most emotional, effective and celebratory entries yet.
Yakuza/Like a Dragon
During its2022 Fiscal Year, the series sold 2.9 million copies worldwide. The majority of its sales stem from the Q2 release ofLost Judgment, which brought in around 400k more copies than Q1. Lost Judgment is a sequel to the 2018 game Judgment, which is a spin-off of the Like a Dragon series.
The 2023 Fiscal Year is very similar to the previous year in that the numbers were fairly close. In total, the series had 2.83 million copies sold, which is a decrease from 2022 by about 70k. The year only had one release, which wasLike a Dragon: Ishin!in Q4. Sales were at 1.1 million, which is similar to what Lost Judgment received at launch.
The highest quarter landed in Q4, which is when Infinite Wealth was released, which brought in 2.65 million copies sold.
With the anticipated release ofLike a Dragon: Infinite WealthandLike a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name, sales got a well-deserved boost with a total of 5.36 million copies sold in its 2024 Fiscal Year. Based on the previous year, the numbers nearly doubled with an increase of 1.89%. Q3 and Q4 made a total of 4.1 million copies. The highest quarter landed in Q4, which is when Infinite Wealth was released, which brought in 2.65 million copies sold. Seeing how the game is the ninth mainline entry of the series, an increase in sales was bound to happen considering the last mainline game was in 2020 withYakuza: Like a Dragon.
Sega Officially Resurrecting Five Classic Franchises
Future of Sega
All of these series had more than 5 million copies sold in the 2024 Fiscal Year, with the Sonic series taking the lead with 5.9 million sold. These numbers are excellent, as there has been a noticeable increase in all three of these series over the past couple of years. It will be exciting to see how these fare in the next year or so, seeing as these games typically release something within the span of a year or two.
