Game News

Sega co-founder David Rosen dies at 95: the arcade pioneer, as three outlets told it

David Rosen, who co-founded Sega and led it through its arcade and console years, has died aged 95. Video Games Chronicle reported on 5 January that he died on Christmas Day 2025, surrounded by family, according to his spokesman. Dexerto, citing RePlay Magazine, said he died in Los Angeles, and The Daily Star of Bangladesh added that his funeral took place on 2 January.

VGC laid out the career. A US Air Force airman in Japan, Rosen founded Rosen Enterprises in the 1950s and began importing American coin-op machines, which earned back their cost quickly despite import fees of 200%. He opened arcades across the country. In 1965 his company merged with jukebox operator Nihon Goraku Bussan and took the Sega name, and in 1966 Sega released its first original game, Periscope. In 1984 he and Hayao Nakayama led a buyout of Sega's Japanese assets, and he set up Sega of America, serving as co-president until July 1996 and overseeing every major console launch up to the Saturn.

“Right off the bat, the machines were tremendously successful.” — David Rosen in 1996, via VGC

How each outlet framed it

• Video Games Chronicle — a detailed company history in Rosen's own words, from his arcade chain to Sega's consoles.
• Dexerto — the “founding father” of the Japanese arcade scene and first chairman of the Japan Amusement Association, with Periscope credited for helping popularise arcade machines worldwide. It named the 1965 merger partner as Service Games, where VGC named Nihon Goraku Bussan.
• The Daily Star — a short obituary built on the family spokesman's account, explaining that the Sega name comes from Service Games.

What we don't know yet: None of the three reports carried tributes from Sega or other industry figures at the time of publication.