History of Sega in China

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History of Sega in China


Official Sega distributor(s): Hiroshima Trading (198x-199x), WKK (199x-1994), Huaxing Electronic Technology (1995-1997), Stone Group (1997-199x), Zhongxun (199x-2000), Matrix Interactive (2001-2002), AtGames (2005-present), CE-Asia (2008-present)

Hiroshima Trading sold Sega Master System model I in the 80s.^[1]

WKK through his division WKK Industries China distributed Master System II but sales were minimal. Since October 1993, WKK began distribution of Sega Mega Drive model I.^[2]^[3]

From 1994, Sega sued numerous Mega Drive clone producers in China.^[4]^[5]In 1995, Chinese government took actions against piracy of Sega games.^[6]^[7]Piracy of Mega Drive was developing at the time and known Chinese producers from that period are Shenchu Electronic^[8], Tianjing Newstar Electronics., Ltd., Subor, BBK Electronics (called also BBG Electronics) and many more. The first unofficial Chinese translators and unlicensed games producers were also established back then like SKOB.

Huaxing Electronic Technology (华星电子科技有限公司) was responsible for the sale of Mega Drive 2 and Game Gear^[9] from around 1995. In January 1995, Sega formed Sega Huahan Culture Entertainment to develop, produce and market games for Chinese video arcades.^[10]

In August 1997, Sega got along with Stone Group (四通集团) to distribute Sega Saturn in China, to sell 40,000 units in the first year.^[11] It isn't known if Sega achieved that.

In October of 1998 Sega and Tianli formed a strategic alliance. Tianli produced Mega Drive VCD Players and distributed them in the P.R.C.

Zhongxun (中讯) distributed Sega Dreamcast until June 2000 when consoles were banned.^[12]

Between late 90s/early 2000s Mega Drive clones were still sold. After ban of consoles, some of the models were distributed as educational computers with learning programmes in Chinese, similary to famiclones, because computers were still allowed. There were also a lot of clones disguised as VCD/DVD players.

On June 6, 2001, Sega announced that it would enter the Chinese market with Matrix Interactive. Distribution of the games was to begin on June 15, 2001. Planned to release more than 13 games this year alone and sell 1.5 million games by June 2002 and own 10% of the Chinese games market.^[13]^[14]^[15]

In 2002, Sega began selling Pico in China.^[16] In the same year Sega established Sega of China called at the beginning "Sega (Shanghai) Software Co., Ltd". Despite that, Chinese division began real operations on August 3, 2004.^[17] In the same day, Sega announced that it would enter the Chinese online gaming market. The IT service for Phantasy Star Online Blue Burst was to be provided by Zarva Digital Entertainment, for CTRace by Joyzone Networks, and for Shenmue Online by T2 Technology Holdings.^[18]

AtGames has been distributing games since January 2005.^[19]Plug & Play consoles and portable devices weren't restricted by law.^[20] The ban of the consoles was lifted in 2015.^[21]

In 2008, Sega entered into an agreement with CE-Asia for the distribution of games in the Chinese market. Empire: Total War and Total War: Shogun 2 have been included in the top 10 most popular PC games in China.^[22]In 2013, Shanda Games released Chain Chronicles.^[23]

In 2010s, Sega created Sega Asia which handle regional releases of games,^[24] but not physical distribution.

References

History of Sega by Country
Asia
Afghanistan \| Armenia \| Azerbaijan \| Bahrain \| Bangladesh \| Bhutan \| Brunei \| Cambodia \| China \| Georgia \| Hong Kong \| India \| Indonesia \| Iran \| Iraq \| Israel \| Japan \| Jordan \| Kazakhstan \| Kuwait \| Kyrgyzstan \| Laos \| Lebanon \| Malaysia \| Maldives \| Mongolia \| Myanmar \| Nepal \| North Korea \| Oman \| Pakistan \| Philippines \| Qatar \| Russia \| Saudi Arabia \| Singapore \| South Korea \| Sri Lanka \| Syria \| Taiwan \| Tajikistan \| Thailand \| East Timor \| Turkey \| Turkmenistan \| United Arab Emirates \| Uzbekistan \| Vietnam \| Yemen
North America
Antigua and Barbuda \| Bahamas \| Barbados \| Belize \| Canada \| Costa Rica \| Cuba \| Dominica \| Dominican Republic \| El Salvador \| Grenada \| Guatemala \| Haiti \| Honduras \| Jamaica \| Mexico \| Nicaragua \| Panama \| Puerto Rico \| Saint Kitts and Nevis \| Saint Lucia \| Saint Vincent and the Grenadines \| Trinidad and Tobago \| USA
South America
Argentina \| Bolivia \| Brazil \| Chile \| Colombia \| Ecuador \| Guyana \| Paraguay \| Peru \| Suriname \| Uruguay \| Venezuela
Europe
Albania \| Andorra \| Austria \| Belarus \| Belgium \| Bosnia and Herzegovina \| Bulgaria \| Croatia \| Cyprus \| Czechia \| Denmark \| Estonia \| Finland \| France \| Germany \| Gibraltar \| Greece \| Greenland \| Hungary \| Iceland \| Ireland \| Italy \| Latvia \| Liechtenstein \| Lithuania \| Luxembourg \| Malta \| Moldova \| Monaco \| Montenegro \| Netherlands \| North Macedonia \| Norway \| Poland \| Portugal \| Romania \| San Marino \| Serbia \| Slovakia \| Slovenia \| Spain \| Sweden \| Switzerland \| Ukraine \| United Kingdom
Australasia
Australia \| Fiji \| Guam \| Kiribati \| Marshall Islands \| Micronesia \| Nauru \| New Zealand \| Palau \| Papua New Guinea \| Samoa \| Solomon Islands \| Tonga \| Tuvalu \| Vanuatu
Africa
Algeria \| Djibouti \| Egypt \| Ghana \| Kenya \| Libya \| Mauritania \| Morocco \| Namibia \| Nigeria \| Sierra Leone \| Somalia \| South Africa \| Tunisia \| Uganda \| Zambia

[1] ttps://www.gcores.com/articles/99611

[2] ttps://techmonitor.ai/technology/sega_starts_test_marketing_new_machine

[3] ttps://www.telecompaper.com/news/sega-to-test-market-mega-drive-machines--8854

[4] ttps://techmonitor.ai/technology/chinese_sega_pirate_punished

[5] ttps://www.telecompaper.com/news/sega-wins-copyright-dispute-with-shenzhen-shenchu--35740

[6] ttps://www.telecompaper.com/news/govt-takes-action-against-piracy-of-sega-games--51523

[7] ttps://www.telecompaper.com/news/police-seize-pirated-audiovisual-products--49954

[8] ttps://techmonitor.ai/technology/chinese_sega_pirate_punished

[9] ttps://www.gcores.com/articles/99611

[10] "Sega forms China venture" The Business Times, 5 January 1995

[11] ttps://www.telecompaper.com/news/sega-to-sell-saturn-games-console--114366

[12] ttps://www.zhihu.com/appview/p/39495468

[13] ttps://www.highwaygames.com/arcade-news/sega-to-enter-chinese-game-software-market-in-june-351/

[14] ttps://edition.cnn.com/2001/BUSINESS/asia/06/07/tokyo.segainchina/

[15] ttp://tech.sina.com.cn/h/n/70171.shtml

[16] ttps://web.archive.org/web/20140921201103/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-91099802.html

[17] ttp://news.17173.com/content/2004-8-11/n413_329750.html

[18] ttps://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20040803005406/en/SEGA-Enters-China-Market-for-Online-Game-Business

[19] ttps://www.gamespot.com/articles/sega-expands-market-in-china-via-atgames/1100-6115888/

[20] ttps://kotaku.com/why-are-consoles-banned-in-china-5587577>

[21] ttps://www.theverge.com/2015/7/25/9039995/china-ends-ban-on-video-game-consoles

[22] ttp://www.ceasia.cn/e-about.html

[23] ttps://www.techinasia.com/sega-hopes-to-take-chain-chronicles-across-asia-via-an-unexpected-partner

[24] ttps://www.siliconera.com/sega-established-singapore-branch-to-cover-southeast-asia/

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History of Sega in China

From Sega Retro

References