SEGA Europe Building Sold, Area To Be Redeveloped

Sometimes thing happen and they slip by, apparently, everyone. Such was the case last night when we discovered that SEGA Europe are set to move from their headquarters – whether they want to or not.

The building on 27 Great West Road in Brentford, has been the main home of SEGA Europe ever since the company was reorganised into a third party publisher. Playing host to a number of important SEGA/Sonic community events, and a notable landmark for those travelling by car along London’s Chiswick flyover which passes by it. It holds a great many memories for those that have worked and visited there.

For many years the business operated on only the fifth floor out of the available six. With the main ‘resident’ of the building being engineering firm WorleyParsons (now known as just Worley) which also operated out of another building just down the road

So why would SEGA be leaving? The answer lies in the success of the area. In recent years, development of the surrounding area has seen the creation of a brand new community football stadium for Brentford F.C., which was promoted to the Premier League at the end of the 2020–21 season.

With a football club from the Premiership now practically over the road from them, the land surrounding the stadium has become by extension highly sought after, with the local council identifying the site as “suitable for a tall building cluster and a minimum of 500 homes, offering significant redevelopment opportunity as part of the continued regeneration of [the area]”.

The owners of the building ended up putting it on the market in October 2020, with a purchase of the land which contains both 27 and 1035 Great West Road confirmed 18 months later for a sum believed to be £40 million.

As of May 2022 the new owners, through Trium Environmental Consulting LLP, have put forward a ‘scoping’ proposal that would see the redevelopment of the land and which would include four blocks up to 17 storeys in height. With additional office and industrial spaces, 1,000 new flats and – somewhat ironically, a central square with better (see: safe) access to the nearby Kew Bridge train station. A… Station Square, if you will.

There are problems that the proposal needs to overcome, especially given the plans for how big the buildings are versus those currently in the area. There are several nearby places of local historical significance, including Kew Gardens, the world famous Royal Botanic Garden which operates 500 acres of woodland and is home to the world’s largest seed conservation project.

However, with the local council keen to continue their redevelopment and regeneration plans it seems that it’s only a matter of time before the i’s are dotted and t’s are crossed with a full application is submitted and approved in short order. With the new building up by “the end of 2027”.

This does of course put SEGA in a massive logistical pickle. Left waiting for an eviction to end their tenure at Great West Road and all the problems of finding a new place to operate, but with no idea or control over the timeline of events. It is very much happening it seems. It’s just a matter of when.

This will not be the first major change of location for SEGA in recent years, however it will likely be the first not of their own choosing.

In 2015 SEGA of America closed their long-time offices in San Francisco, however this was part of an “implementation of structure reform” by parent company SEGA Sammy. In late 2022 both SOA and SEGA-owned Persona developer ATLUS moved in to a new office space in Irving, California. The location of ATLUS’s prior home.

The aforementioned SEGA Sammy announced in March 2017 that it would finally be putting an end to having offices and studios scattered all over the damn place (including ATLUS Japan) and that they would centralise everything in a new headquarters based in Osaki, Tokyo. Subsequently revealed in 2018.

As for the future of SEGA Europe where will they move to? There is a major business park down the road in Gunnersbury, but that would depend upon availability and suitability. Will it move outside of London to locations popular with other game studios like Guildford and Leamington Spa? Or perhaps somewhere further afield like second city Birmingham? And, given the actions at both SOA and SEGA Japan, will SEGA Sammy make a similar choice to consolidate the various ‘bits’ of its UK-based activities into one big headquarters with knock-on effects for ATLUS, mobile studio SEGA HARDlight, Total War developer Creative Assembly, Football Manager developer Sports Interactive and possibly even include a satellite office for it’s latest new acquisition, Angry Birds developer Rovio – whose own small office closed in 2018?

It’s a case of watch this space.
At least, now that we know to actually do that.