A key figure in video game history has passed away. On January 2, 2026, the spokesperson of Sega co-founder David Rosen informed RePlay Magazine that the former business executive and US Air Force pilot had passed away in his home in Los Angeles, CA on December 25, 2025. He was 95 years old.
Rosen was one of several Americans behind the slot machine and coin-op arcade companies that evolved into the company known as Sega Enterprise ltd, which is today recognized as a leading Japanese game developer and publisher.
Rosen founded Rosen Enterprises in 1954. The company initially specialized in selling Japanese art and photo booths before pivoting to the import and export of coin-operated “amusement machines.”
In 1965, Rosen Enterprises merged with Nihon Goraku Bussan, a company formed by Martin Bromley, Irving Bromberg, and James Humpert to inherit the assets of their prior firm Service Games (the first two letters of each word being the origin of ‘Sega’). Rosen became CEO of the new venture, laying the groundwork for one of today’s most enduring game development firms.
Rosen helped steer Sega through acquisitions and industry shifts
Experts like Sega Mega Drive Collected Works author Keith Stuart have noted how Rosen was skilled at identifying and recruiting business visionaries with an eye for the future of game development.
Under his watch Sega expanded as a manufacturer and distributor of arcade games, eventually being bought by Paramount Pictures parent company Gulf+Western Industries. After Gulf+Western sold Sega to Bally Manufacturing in 1982, he joined Sega executives Hayao Nakayama and Isao Okawa to put together a buyout group that made Sega an independent company once again.
He then became chairman of Sega of America, the company’s North American division, before stepping down from the role in 1993. He remained a director of Sega Japan until his retirement in 1996.
