Moore pulled Sega out of console market
Console maker risked bankruptcy
Speaking with UK broadsheet The Guardian, games industry veteran Peter Moore has revealed it was his decision to drag Sega kicking and screaming out of the console market.
The former Xbox exec, now chief of EA Sports, was once a top-dog at Sega - and he told the newspaper that it was his final decision to re-purpose Sega as an all-formats games developer and publisher.
"Dreamcast was a phenomenal 18 months of pain, heartache, euphoria... We thought we had it," the big boss reminisced.
"But then Playstation came out... And of course, EA didn't publish which left a big hole, not only in sports but in other genres. We ended up that Christmas period not being able to get to where we needed to be - we weren't far short, we just couldn't get that critical mass."
Apparently Sega had a target to hit over Christmas 2001, and they fell short of it, leaving senior bosses facing a difficult decision. "So on January 31st 2001 we said SEGA is leaving hardware - somehow I got to make that call, not the Japanese. I had to fire a lot of people, it was not a pleasant day."
He says Sega could have poured more money into the Dreamcast, but that they risked going bankrupt, and it was instead decided that a change of tact was in order.
