Operator News

Japan – Sega Sammy reveals first concept designs for Yokohama waterfront casino

By Phil - 7 February 2020

Japan-based Sega Sammy Holdings has released an artistic impression of the integrated resort it wants to build on the Yokohama waterfront along with two new local partners.

The group has already announced a Strategic Business Alliance with UK architecture Foster + Partners. Adding to this deal Sega Sammy has now announced two more partnerships, one with with marketing company Katana to promote its ‘Japanese-style IR business plan aiming for increased business success rates’ and one with Japanese restaurateur Kyoto Kitcho.

Sega Sammy stated: “Katana will be fully integrated in all aspects of the project, from the business planning stages to the actual marketing phase. Kyoto Kitcho will design and produce restaurants and inns where people can enjoy classic Japanese cuisine in elegant spaces that accentuate the four seasons as core facilities that promote attractiveness for tourism.”

Kunio Tokuoka, President and CEO Kyoto Kitcho said: “I believe that Japanese people have a temperament that allows them to live vigorously while coexisting with nature. As we welcome our 90th anniversary this year, Kitcho is often called an “long-established restaurant.” However, we do not simply preserve old traditions. We
evolve to keep up with the times, and are constantly creating new things by combining traditions with the present. On this occasion, in cooperating SEGA SAMMY and its cuttingedge technology, we hope to create a real platform that will open new networks and communication.

Haruki Satomi, President and Group COO of Sega Sammy added: “We are extremely honoured to be able to participate in the Yokohama IR event together with KYOTO KITCHO. While it goes without saying that KYOTO KITCHO is a famous Japanese restaurant, we believe that its desire to pass on the skills and worldview that underpin its traditions and formal codes, combined with its disposition to push Japanese cuisine forward constantly with their tireless and curious hearts, is precisely the form that Japan’s IRs should take. Utilising “tradition and innovation” we hope to share mutually our wisdom to create a facility where people from around the world can encounter the true beauty of Japan.

The news came as Sega Sammy’s Korean integrated resort Paradise City, a 45/55 partnership with Korea’s Paradise C, reported further losses widen despite a 53.4 per cent year-on-year increase in sales to KRW135bn (US$114m) in the third quarter. GGR grew by 52 per cent to KRW268.7bn (US$227m), but losses widened to KRW11.6bn (US$9.8m) from KRW10.6bn.

Sega Sammy said: “Paradise City has attracted many guests, primarily Japanese VIPs, owing to the effects of promotional activities targeting the Japanese market.”

The company’s pachinko and video gaming segments, performed well with a 12.2 per cent jump in sales to ¥280.81bn (US$2.56bn).

Sega Sammy stated: “With regard to the pachislot and pachinko industry, while the rate of machines that have been verified to be compatible through prototype testing, which was conducted by the Security Communications Association (Hotsukyo), remained low, the launch of machines that conform to the regulatory revision is progressing. The expectations for market revitalisation are rising, with reviewed voluntary regulations of Nihon Dendo-shiki Yugiki Kyodo Kumiai (Nichidenkyo), a union of pachislot machine manufacturers, and Nihon Yugiki Kogyo Kumiai (Nikkoso), a union for pachinko machine manufacturers related to pachislot machines, and with a greater range of gameplay available through pachinko machine development, due in part to changes to the criteria for interpretation of technological standards related to pachinko machines. The launch of several titles will be delayed until the next fiscal year, the number of titles sold and sales units are expected to be
lower than the initial plans, and sales and operating income are expected to be lower than the previously announced forecasts.”