Preceding a turn of the century showdown between the three major games console gunslingers – Sega Enterprises, Nintendo Co Ltd and Sony Corp – Sega of America has announced that it, and sister companies SegaSoft Networks and Sega Entertainment, will move from current Redwood City base to Multimedia Gulch, San Francisco. Lea Caraher, vice president of communications said that the company expected to employ nearly 400 people by the time of the move in January 1999,and was looking to than double that figure over the next few years. She would not discuss how much the move would initially cost the company but claimed that the ten year tenure at 650 Townsend Street the would save Sega millions of dollars. The company had laid off 60 staff in January of this year (CI No 3,324). Caraher explained that the lay-offs had occurred because the company had no hardware to sell – following the market failure of the Saturn console, and the company was hiring again in anticipation of its new ‘Dreamcast’ platform (CI No 3,416) launch in the US, expected fall 1999.
