Update: Epic fail by Sega of America President Simon Jeffrey. As Kotaku reports, Jeffrey reinstated that one of Sega's creative force, Yu Suzuki, is still in the company's payroll as a leading "creative officer". Big sigh of relief there for Suzuki fans. So look at the story below as a motivation to watch what you say, before it gets out of hand...and make Sega fans cry.
The man behind Sega's Shenmue game series, and Virtua Fighter 4 is no longer employed with the company. Sega of America president Simon Jeffrey said that the talented Yu Suzuki has gone on his own venture.
"Last I heard, he was doing some online stuff in China," said Jeffrey. As Kotaku points out, Suzuki-san also worked on classic arcade titles such Out Run, Space Harrier, Virtuta Cop and Hang On - the first title he helped program when he joined Sega in 1983. But unfortunately his stellar career with Sega won't continue anymore as he is "kind of his own man right now," as Jeffrey said.
It's too bad that Shenmue III's existence is no longer possible with the given situation. Suzuki has been reported working on a MMO Shenmue title, but it never got to see the light of day. Shenmue, developed by Sega-AM2, was originally released for the Sega Dreamcast in November 2000.
