Sega Lays Off 60 Workers at U.S. Headquarters

Sega of America laid off about one-third of the staff in its U.S. headquarters in San Francisco, capping off a tumultuous week in which the video game company announced plans to exit the console business and focus exclusively on developing software. The job cuts affect about 60 employees who support Sega’s Dreamcast console. On Wednesday, Sega said it will cease to manufacture the Dreamcast on March 31 but will continue to make games for the machine for at least the next 12 months. The Japanese company said it will release 30 new games this year in the U.S. for the Dreamcast but did not elaborate on plans for 2002.