Sega Co-Founder David Rosen Passed Away at Age 95
Sega co-founder David Rosen has died at 95. He helped build Sega’s arcade roots, expanded it globally, and guided the company through key eras.
David Rosen, the co-founder of Sega, has died at the age of 95. His family confirmed that Rosen died peacefully on Christmas Day, surrounded by his loved ones. A funeral service was held on January 2. Losing another pillar of the gaming industry, Rosen was one of the people who helped shape Sega into the company that would go on to influence arcades, consoles, and gaming culture for decades.
David Rosen: A key figure in Sega growth and long-term success
It is hard to talk about Sega’s long history without also talking about the people who helped shape its earliest years, and David Rosen was there at the foundation. Long before Sega became a name tied to consoles, mascots, and big rivalries, it was building its identity in the arcade space.
David Rosen first established an operation in Japan centered around coin-operated entertainment which eventually set the stage for what would become Sega as it is known today.
In 1965, Rosen’s firm merged with Service Games, forming Sega Enterprises. His time as chairman and CEO came during a period when Sega was still defining itself, competing in a rapidly evolving arcade market and trying to expand beyond its early foundation.
Under Rosen’s leadership, Sega produced arcade hits that helped bring the brand internationally including the submarine simulator Periscope, a cabinet often cited as one of the company’s early breakout successes.
David Rosen, co-founder of SEGA, has passed away at the age of 95.
— SEGA Informant (@SEGAInforment) January 5, 2026
He was one of the founding fathers of the Japanese Arcade scene, bringing hunting and shooting cabinets to players across the country. He oversaw the release of many titles and consoles up till the SEGA Saturn. pic.twitter.com/kROSNFbWlb
What stands out about Rosen’s time at Sega is how long he remained a key figure through the company’s shifts including ownership changes and major business transitions. Sega did not grow in a straight line and its history includes reorganizations and restructuring that could have diluted its identity. Rosen was one of the steady presences who helped the company remain intact while it evolved.
He also played a notable role in Sega’s international growth. Rosen helped co-found Sega of America which became critical as Sega expanded further into Western markets. That move would eventually help set the company’s later global success especially during the peak of the console wars era.
While Rosen is most closely associated with Sega’s arcade foundations, he was also there as the company pushed into hardware and home consoles. Accounts of his tenure credit him with championing Sega’s console direction across multiple generations, spanning the company’s rise through platforms such as the Master System, Genesis era expansion, and later systems like the Saturn, before he retired in 1996.
His retirement marked the end of a long stretch where one of Sega’s most defining leaders was still directly connected to the business. Rosen may not be a name as immediately familiar to the average player now as Sega’s characters or developers, but his fingerprints are all over the company’s most important building blocks.
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Sending some gaming news your way from a surfing paradise island. Loves creating content, and researching informative facts and useless trivia. A novice in the gaming industry but a veteran in communications and publication.
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