Freshly Discovered Sega Document From 1996 Reveals Unbridled Confidence Over Saturn ‘Killing Sony’

A freshly uncovered Sega document from 1996 has revealed the company’s unbridled confidence ahead of the Saturn’s launch in the United States, saying the console was “killing Sony” in Japan.

As reported by PC Gamer, the previously confidential document was uploaded to Sega Retro and revealed 272 pages of insider information including manufacturing costs, sales figures, product strategies, and more.

An email from Sega America’s former CEO Tom Kalinske had particularly bold claims about the Sega Saturn’s success. Highlighted in a tweet from Mega Drive Shock (below), the email was sent on March 28, 1996, two months before the Saturn infamously surprise-launched in the U.S.

This is huge. A 272-page PDF of classified Sega of America docs from ~1996 was just posted online.

There is so much info here that it’s almost overwhelming. Manufacturing costs, retail margins, sales, product strategies, emails, etc.https://t.co/2XWbpu9QdK pic.twitter.com/akhxdK7fwd

— John Harrison – Mega Drive Shock (@MegaDriveShock) July 3, 2023

“It is one thing to hear or read about how well we are doing in Japan versus Sony, it’s another to personally witness it,” Kalinske said.

“We are killing Sony. In every store, Saturn hardware is sold out and there are stacks of PlayStation. The retailers commented they can’t compare the true sales rate because Saturn sells out before they can measure accurately.”

He closed by saying: “I wish I could get all our staff, sales people, retailers, analysts, media, etc, to see and understand what’s happening in Japan; they would then understand why we will win here in the U.S. eventually. How do we show that at E3?”

Sega attempted to show it at E3 by announcing the Saturn wouldn’t launch in September as planned but instead would be available immediately, which came as a surprise to fans, retailers, and developers.

While it wasn’t a commercial success, the Saturn is still remembered fondly for games like Panzer Dragoon Saga, Virtua Fighter 2, Guardian Heroes, Nights into Dreams, and more.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.