History of Sega in China

---

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

---

History of Sega in China
Official Sega distributor(s): Hiroshima Trading (198x-199x), WKK (1992/1993-1995), Dynantar Technology Co., Ltd (1996-199x), Stone International Trading Co., Ltd (1997-1998), Hong Kong Zhongxun Video Games Co., Ltd. (1999-2000), Matrix Interactive (2001-2002), AtGames (2005-present), CE-Asia (2008-present)

Hiroshima Trading

Sega Master System was the first documented Sega console that was sold in China. It was distributed by Hiroshima Trading starting from late 1980s to early 1990s.

WKK and Huahan Culture Entertainment deal

WKK through his division WKK Industries China distributed Master System II from 1992/1993 but sales were minimal. Since October 1993, WKK began distribution of Sega Mega Drive model I.

In Christmas 1993, Sega signed an agreement with Huahan Culture Entertainment in Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, Beijing with a purpose of creating new company. On December 13, 1994, formed Sega Huahan Culture Entertainment to develop, produce and promote games for Chinese video arcade market.

Fight with piracy

The piracy of Mega Drive consoles and games was developing in the region. The most popular producer of 16-bit Sega bootlegs was at the time Tianjing Newstar Electronics., Ltd. and others included Shenchu Electronic, Subor, BBK Electronics (called also BBG Electronics) and many more. From 1994, Sega started suing numerous Mega Drive clone producers from China. The main goal was not only to reduce clones on the local market but also on the global one, because many products were sent abroad where they competed with the original systems. For example, in early 1995, Sega loose 70% of Hong Kong market, because of bootlegs from China. On March 9, 1995, Sega reached an agreement with Chinese government to took legal action in order to minimalize piracy of Sega systems.With this, the largest game console wholesaler in Beijing and Sega games stores were seized. Very huge amounts of pirated consoles and cartridges were confiscated and eventually destroyed. These actions almost caused the collapse of the Chinese gaming market, due to the fact that it was mostly based on piracy but was also constantly attacked by the media and educational circles. Despite the sharp start, further actions weren't as strong and piracy still continued. The first unofficial Chinese translators and unlicensed games producers like Li Cheng were established in mid-1990s.

U.M.C, Stone Group and Tianli

Instead of importing the console from its own warehouses, Sega decided to produce them regionally. In September 1996, Sega signed an agreement with U.M.C from Taiwan to establish the Dynantar Technology Co., Ltd (华星电子科技有限公司) in Shantou, to produce and sale Mega Drive 2 and Game Gear.

When U.M.C produced Sega video games, in January 1997, Stone International Trading Co., Ltd (四通集团) announced that they have a authorization from Sega to sell Sega Saturn in China. They also announced that are looking for distributors and called existing importers of Saturn to contact the Stone for to authorization of the sales. The company said that they will do inspections across the country and those who will not cooperate will be classified as illegal sellers. In March 1997, it was announced that the consoles can now be purchased from authorized retailers in Tianjin, Beijing and shipped nationwide for ¥2,400 with 4-disc included.In the following months, more vendors appeared in other regions. In August 1997, Sega said that they want to sell 40,000 units in the first year.

In October 1998 Sega and Tianli formed a strategic alliance to distribute Mega Drive VCD and DVD Players produced by U.M.C. The video games were distributed on discs with one containing multiple games. The system was well-known and recognizable, but the price of device was high and quickly pirated.

Dreamcast

The Hong Kong Zhongxun Video Games Co., Ltd. (香港中讯电玩有限公司) was a distributor of Sega Dreamcast from around 1999 until June 2000 when consoles were banned in China. Sega.com Asia planned to launch localized internet service for Dreamcast, which was suppose to be available in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou until early 2001 but it's fate is unknown.

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.

PC era

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.

From Spring 2002, Sega Toys began selling Pico in China, but the results are unknown.

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. 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. They also established Sega (China) Network Technology Co., Ltd which operated from October 2005 to May 2007.

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

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.In 2013, Shanda Games released Chain Chronicles.

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