WOW Entertainment

WOW Entertainment at a Glance

WOW Entertainment operated as a Japanese developer from 1996 to 2009. The studio started as a subsidiary of Sega, formed by members from the Amusement Machine Research & Development Division 1. It changed its name to Sega WOW in 2003 after merging with Overworks. Following the merger between Sega and Sammy in 2004, the group shut down and reorganized back into an internal Sega R&D structure. PlayPile lists 22 games developed by them during this time. They did not publish any titles under their own name but acted solely as developers. Their output was concentrated heavily in the 2000s with 19 releases compared to just 3 games in the 1990s. The company focused primarily on arcade hardware, which accounts for 14 of their titles. They also released many games for the Dreamcast with 9 entries, while PC and Xbox had fewer ports at 5 and 3 respectively. Sport was their most common genre with 8 titles, followed closely by shooters with 7 games. Simulators and arcade games rounded out their top categories. Quality control varied significantly across their catalog. The average IGDB rating for the 8 rated titles sits at 61.4 out of 100. This score reflects a split between solid efforts and significant failures. Six titles received good ratings in the 60 to 79 range, while one game scored poorly below 40. Their best work included The House of the Dead III, The House of the Dead 2, and The House of the Dead 4, which all scored above 69. Columns Crown and Sega GT 2002 also performed well with scores near 70. Later releases showed inconsistent results. Loving Deads: The House of the Dead EX arrived in early 2009, while Gekitou Pro Yakyuu released in 2003 received a very low score of 25. The data shows they were active until 2009 but their influence ended when the corporate restructuring occurred in 2004. Their legacy rests on a few standout shooters and racing games, though many other projects did not achieve high praise.

Release Timeline

Rating Distribution