It’s been real, but Sega is finally closing down its arcade business.

After 5 decades of being the best in the arcade scene & leading the pioneer’s charge in the field, Sega Sammy announced that it intends to sell its remaining 14.9% shares within its arcade division to Genda Inc. That’s the same holding corporation that purchased the majority of Sega’s arcade shares in 2020. The Sega arcade sites will be ditching the “Sega” title and moniker, and will be replaced with GiGo Entertainment.

GiGo Entertainment will be rebranding Sega’s key Tokyo locations: Ikebukuro, Akihabara, and Shinjuku. Sega will still be making games for worldwide distribution, but it’s not going to put in coins and continuing as arcade center owners and hosts. No doubt COVID-19 had a lot to do with these major decisions; it’s been detrimental to offline spots and events.

This is sad news, as Sega’s many arcade centers in Japan, and some offshoots in Australia and UK back in the 90s, are the key reasons I still love video games and the short-but-sweet competitive side of things. So long, and thank you for all the memories.