Launched in the midst of a £1.5 million advertising campaign created by Mustoe Merriman and Motive,[15] the openings were attended by several celebrities, including Robbie Williams, Anneka Rice, and Jarvis Cocker, and covered by numerous magazines and television programmes, with T3[16] and Newsround[17] among them.

Though positive comments were made towards the park's large "Rocket Escalator", the variety of coin-operated arcade machines on offer, and the advanced VR-1 attraction, reception for most other aspects of it was poor.

Due to the poor reviews, mismanaged crowd control, and general state of disappointment over what was initially promised by Sega, the opening of SegaWorld London was largely regarded as a PR disaster,[21] denting the brand's reputation at the time in the United Kingdom and setting an unfortunate precedent for the venue, as well as future endeavours.

[2] In response to criticisms raised concerning the culminative cost of a visit in numerous reviews, Sega initially put the majority of the SegaWorld's arcade machines on freeplay in the weeks after opening.

A new 3D IMAX cinema and drop tower ride sponsored by Pepsi had renewed tourist interest in the Trocadero, but like the original sponsorship deal did not benefit SegaWorld directly.

[27] As part of the original agreements drawn up to create SegaWorld in 1995, Sega were reported to be contractually bound to pull out of running the facility if a £3 million profit had not been recorded exactly three years after opening.

[14] This was ultimately not achieved, and on 7 September 1999,[1] Sega officially announced that they would be pulling out of the SegaWorld joint venture with Chorion; the space it occupied was immediately sub-let to Family Leisure, the operators of Funland in the same venue.

Due to its status as a flagship Sega facility, SegaWorld also received numerous pre-release arcade games on location test, as well as rarely seen Japanese import cabinets such as Dennou Senki Net Merc and SegaSonic the Hedgehog.

[29] A second McDonald's outlet and the on-site Sega Shop were sited directly opposite the exit escalator into the main Trocadero atrium; the latter is believed to have later been moved to the Sports Arena.

Though its perceived failure can be viewed as emblematic of wider problems within the company and the late 1990s decline of the arcade industry, it has been looked back on favourably by many visitors and has been the subject of numerous reflective works, including videos and articles by The Guardian, Time Out, Digitiser, and fans.

The statue's existence was first rediscovered in 2019,[37] and following involvement from fans alongside Sega Europe, was later restored by film prop effects and makeup firm 13 Finger FX to become a standing feature in their Brentford, London headquarters.