History of Sega in Caucasian States

History of Sega in Caucasian States
Official Sega distributor(s): Nissho Iwai (1994-1996), Buka (1994-1999), Bitman (1996-1997), R-Style (1996-1999), NVT (2000-2001), 1C Company (20xx-20xx), Unknown (20xx-present)

Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia declared independence in 1991. In the next years they became members of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). However, Georgia left the CIS in 2008 due to the Russo-Georgian War.

From Mega Drive to Dreamcast

Most of Sega's history in this region from this period is related to History of Sega in Russia with minor changes, so the events are briefly summarized.
1. Steepler releases Dendy in 1993 and starts selling Sega clones (Pro 16 Bit and High Quality) and the original Mega Drive 2 from Asia, Genesis CDX from USA with US/EU/Asian/Bootleg games.
2. Nissho Iwai gets licenses to distribute games in CIS countries and in 1994 selects several authorized distributors such as Buka who supply Mega Drive 2 (EU/AS PAL), Mega-CD 2 (EU PAL/AS NTSC), Master System 2 (EU PAL), Game Gear (EU PAL), Sega Saturn (AS NTSC/EU PAL), Mega Drive 32X. Steepler starts selling Mega Drive 2 from Nissho Iwai channels.
3. The wave of Sega and Dendy clones begins to flood the CIS countries on flea markets, small stores and from specialized sellers (like Bitman, Kenga and Subor), which means that the original systems reach a smaller number of people. Besides Famicom and Mega Drive clones, Sega had competition in form of Super Nintendo and Game Boy (distributed from November 1994 by Steepler), 3DO (distributed from late 1994 by Buka), PlayStation (distributed from March 1995 by Buka, which distribution was taken over from July 1997 by Sony CIS), CD-i (distributed from 1995 by A –STIMUL with chain of 3 authorised distributors) and Atari Jaguar (distributed from 1995 by Game Land).
4. Despite problems with clones, Sega says Mega Drive had good sales in Russia and CIS and decides to push Sega Saturn. They signs a deal with Bitman as distributor no.1 (making Super Bitman legal), Buka as distributor no. 2 and R-Style as distributor no. 3 and starts selling all Sega consoles in its stores in the PAL system.
5. Sega Saturn turns out to be a failure and Bitman is bought by R-Style in 1997, which with Buka solds Sega consoles until late 90s.
6. The region is flooded in the late 1990s and early 2000s with Sega and Dendy clones from two channels: Asian by small sellers and flee markets and Russian by specialized sellers (like Simba's Video Games and New Game) with translated into Russian console and game boxes and later localized games.
7. Sega wanted to market Dreamcast in late 2000, through Russian company NVTwith localized games into Russian and games in cheap jewel cases but due to Sega's limiting production this didn't materialized. Even before that, there were companies importing the Dreamcast from Europe on their own and in the end of 2000, due to pirated translations of games into Russian and their distribution through its own sales channel in CIS countries, the console became popular. After Big Ben Interactive became a distributor in Western Europe, local Russian distributors bought out the consoles and distributed them to the CIS countries, so that the console was sold long after its withdrawal in other parts of the world.

After Dreamcast

In the following years, some games were released in CIS by the 1C company. Sega games are also available through digital distribution and the region is part of RU-CIS-UA when it comes to digital keys. Digital game distribution platforms such as Steam suggest lower prices for the region.

In the Caucasian States, clones of Sega Mega Drive can still be find still from Asian and Russian distribution channel.

Sega Amusement

Since 2006, the distribution of arcade machines and equipment for children produce by Sega is being carried out by KidsPlay.

QubicaAMF is a strategic partner in Russia and CIS countries.

Sititek

Sititek is the official distributor of Sega Toys in Russia and CIS countries.