Region codes

From Sega Retro

Note: article needs a better name.

This short article is in need of work. You can help Sega Retro by adding to it.


In the late 1980, Sega made the choice of localising their releases for specific countries. Unlike Japan, the rest of the world did not always follow the same guidelines when it came to numbering products, so this system may not work for all releases. It was most widely practised in Europe.

The format is usually as follows:

First-Party:

MK-XXXYYY-ZZ

Third-Party:

T-XXXYYY-ZZ

in which green symbolises the First-Party MK-Series Code or Third-Party T-Series Code, and purple dictates the region. The amount of numbers may vary, and some codes lack the "MK-" or "T-". Often European country codes only apply to packaging - the cartridges or discs may be identical to other European releases.

The system came into use during the days of the Sega Mega Drive, and was passed on to the Sega Saturn and Sega Dreamcast. Many publishers, notably Electronic Arts did not use this system, and it was not used at all in Japan or North America.

Code Region Notes
05 United Kingdom Older UK releases may use 50.
06 Spain Sometimes paired with Italy
07 Asia Not including Japan and South Korea
08 South Korea
09 France
11 China Distributed by Freeton Co.
13 Italy
16 China Distributed by Acer TWP Corp.
18 Germany
20 The Netherlands
27 France/Spain
40 China Mega Drive releases
45 Brazil
50 Europe Used for non-localised European content.
51 Italy Saturn releases
53 United Kingdom/France/Germany/Spain How this differs from 50 is unknown.
55 The Netherlands
58 Germany/France/The Netherlands
59 France/The Netherlands
61 United Kingdom/Spain/Italy
64 United Kingdom/France/Germany
78 Scandinavia
91 United Kingdom/The Netherlands

Other consoles have different methods. For example, Nintendo currently employs a coloured triangle system.