1UP: Sammy, Sega Plan Overseas Expansion

Japanese pachinko giant Sammy has formed a comprehensive business tie-up with American gaming company International Game Technology, Bloomberg News reports today, passing on the news from the Sankei Shimbun. IGT, the world's largest manufacturer of slot machines, will assist Sammy with its plans for overseas expansion while benefiting from Sammy's more diverse base of games and properties, not to mention its complete access to the Japanese gambling market.

Sega, in which Sammy now owns a 22.4% stake, will benefit from the deal by gaining new avenues of distribution for some of its games. IGT will become the OEM supplier of Sega's networked horse-racing games (of which Derby Owner's Club is the latest example) overseas.

Looking at the larger picture, Sammy plans to use this alliance to expand into many foreign arcade markets, including South America, China, and Europe as well as the United States, with its own low-priced Atomiswave arcade hardware and new networked games from Sega. Sammy's ultimate goal is to achieve combined sales (Sammy and Sega together) of 500 billion yen ($4.7 billion) two years from now, compared to 362.9 billion yen ($3.4 billion) in 2003.