Japan’s Sega Sammy Holdings has appointed Haruki Satomi as its new president and group chief executive officer following an organizational restructure. Satomi succeeds his father and company founder Hajime Satomi as CEO. The elder Satomi retains his role of chairman and representative director; the younger was formerly president and group chief operating officer.
According to Inside Asian Gaming, the promotion comes as Sega Sammy announced an internal restructuring that split the corporate and administrative functions of Sammy Corp. and Sega Group Corp. and saw Sega Group Corp. absorbed by a subsidiary, Sega Cor. All are wholly owned subsidiaries.
Yukio Sugino, managing executive officer at Sega Sammy Holdings, has been named president and COO of Sega Corp., which the parent company says is now responsible for the “planning, development and sales of game-related contents for mobile phones, PCs, smart devices and home video game consoles, and development and sales of amusement (pachinko and pachislot) machines.”
Sega Sammy Holdings was established in 2004 after Hajime Satomi’s Sammy Corp. acquired a controlling share in video game giant Sega. The entity has since focused on four key business segments: pachinko and pachislot sales, amusement center operations, arcade machines and video games, IAG reported.
The company and South Korea’s Paradise Co joined together to develop the US$1.3 billion integrated resort Paradise City in Incheon, near Seoul, which opened in April 2017. Sega Sammy holds a 45 percent stake in Paradise City.
According to GamesIndustry.biz, pachinko and pachislot machines have been one of the worst affected aspects of Sega Sammy’s business during the Covid-19 pandemic. In fiscal Q1, the division sold 485 machines, down from 18,000 in the same quarter the year before. Amid the uncertainty, video games have proven more durable.
