Report claims that Sega plans to halt Dreamcast production

Following on the reports yesterday regarding Sega's multiplatform development, further speculation regarding the fate of the Dreamcast console itself has emerged in a report in the Nihon Keizai Shimbun. The Japanese publication reports that Sega plans to stop all production of the Dreamcast hardware by March of this year and that the company will focus its resources toward software development alone. However, according to the news agency, Sega will continue to maintain its marketing plans in support of the console through the end of this year. The report further states that Sega has five PlayStation 2 games and two Game Boy Advance titles currently in development.

In response to the report, SOA released an official statement today. "Sega of America stated today that the company globally reaffirms its commitment to Dreamcast," the company said. "In fact, Sega has more than 100 games worldwide coming out for the platform in the next year. It is not Sega's policy to comment on rumors and the company has not made any statement regarding ceasing manufacturing of Dreamcast or development for other videogame platforms."

GameSpot spoke with officials at Sega of America, who reiterated those sentiments. The SOA spokesperson was quick to point out that any such announcement regarding company structure and its long-term business plans will come first from its Japanese headquarters, which hasn't happened at this time.

GameSpot will continue to follow these developments and will bring you the latest details.