In a recent interview with Gamasutra, Sega CEO Simon Jeffery commented on the whereabouts of Yu Suzuki, the long time Sega game designer and producer who brought Virtua Fighter, Virtua Cop, and Out Run to life. His response confirmed that he is no longer employed by the company.

“Yeah. He’s kind of his own man right now. Every now and again, he’ll come up with an idea, and I don’t think anything has come out of that yet, but we’re still working with him” said Jeffery.

The Gamasutra interviewer then stated that he wasn’t sure if the designer was still a Sega employee, to which Simon stated:

“Not as far as I know.”

Is it just me, or does that response make you think of the stapler guy from Office Space hanging out in the basement of the building begging for scraps of cake? How can you not know if someone is officially on your payroll as an employee?

I have been a big supporter of Sega as of late, but one would think that the loss of an individual who has meant so much to a company would warrant a tad more respectable response. Guess not.

Update: Sega CEO Misspoke: Yu Suzuki Still Employed as Creative Officer
It would seem that “as far as I know” is not a very far reaching span of knowledge. Sega CEO has clarified his comment, stating that he misspoke, and that Yu Suzuki is still very much employed with the company. Read more…

Source: Gamasutra

Tags: Out Run, Virtua Cop, Virtua Fighter, Yu Suzuki

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