Sega Sammy has announced a notable eight executive personnel changes as part of a major overhaul which follows a recent period of turbulence for the operator.
In the wake of a difficult period for the operator, a handful of significant changes to the company’s executive structure have been announced – all expected to come into effect as of 1 April 2026. Indeed, long-standing CEO Haruki Satomi is set to retain his position as head of the company, a role he initially stepped into in 2017.
Elsewhere, however, things have been far from this simple. The company’s present Director of the Board, Koichi Fukazawa, is set to retain his current position whilst also stepping down from his additional role as Group CFO. Sega Sammy’s alternate Director of the Board, Makoto Takahashi, will be stepping aside to assume the roles of Executive Vice President, Senior Vice President and Group CFO.
Toru Nakahara will move over from Senior to Executive Vice President, retaining his role as Head of Entertainment Productions, Film, TV and Business Affairs – while Masayoshi Yokoyama steps into the new role of Head of RGG Studio Business Unit. The only external hire comes in the form of Nobuhiko Shimizu, who will take over as a VP and Head of Corporate Development, while Takaharu Kato is set to continue as SVP, as well as switching from Managing Director of IT Solutions to Group CIO.
Finally, Koji Takeyama will step in as the new MD of Risk Governance – moving on from his position as MD of General Corporate Administration and Risk Governance, as well as moving up from VP to SVP – while Hidekazu Kouchi also moves up from VP to SVP.
Sega Sammy’s recent unfavourable market developments were underlined by the operator’s Q3 2025 results released earlier this month, which saw the company experience an operating income decline of 54.7% year-on-year – subsequently leading to a net loss of JPY 16.8bn ($110m). Now, it would appear that the organisation is looking to reinvent its internal structures in order to steer the ship out of murky financial waters.
Sega Sammy also recently announced it intends to suspend M&A activity in the wake of poor financial performance
