Amusement Vision Web site goes dark

TOKYO--Another Sega development studio is closing its virtual doors. Amusement Vision has announced that it will be taking down its official Web site on July 1. Along with Hitmaker, Amusement Vision’s site closure will accommodate the merger of Sega's subsidiaries to the main branch, which will take place on the same day. The product pages and special sites for Amusement Vision's games will remain open but other sections will be taken down.

Amusement Vision is known for a number of popular game releases, such as the Daytona USA and Virtua Striker series. Amusement Vision is currently running a portal site for upcoming releases in the Shining Force series, which includes a new Shining Force title that the Sega studio is developing for the PlayStation 2. The Shining Force portal site will continue to operate after the official site closes next month.

Sega's decision to return its development studio operations back to headquarters comes as preparation for the merger between Sega and Sammy continues. In mid-May, the two companies announced that they will be merging in October by becoming subsidiaries of a new holding company, Sega Sammy Holdings. Once merged, Sega and Sammy's combined annual income for the fiscal year 2005 is expected to reach 501 billion yen ($4.4 billion), making it one of the biggest game companies in Japan.