Hideki Sato, the celebrated designer of every SEGA console and the former president of SEGA, has passed away at age 75 on February 13, 2026. The news was made public by Japanese games outlet Beep21, whom published two interviews with Sato that are now publicly available for fans to read on Note.com (2) (Japanese-only at the time of this writing).
Hideki Sato joined SEGA in 1971 and would go on to lead a R&D team responsible for the creation of SEGA’s arcade and home console hardware, which includes the Master System, Genesis/Mega Drive, Saturn, and Dreamcast.
“From the beginning, Sega’s home console development has always been influenced by our arcade development,” Sato said in an interview with Famitsu. “Our first 8-bit machine was the SC-3000. This was a PC for beginner-level users. At that time, Sega only did arcade games, so this was our first challenge. We had no idea how many units we’d sell.”
Following the release of the Dreamcast around the world, Sato became the acting president of SEGA in 2001. Sato served as president through 2003, two years after the company exited the console hardware business and refocused as a publisher for multi-platform titles. Sato left the company in 2008.
This past December, SEGA celebrated the iconic design of the Dreamcast with a new collaborative set of keyboards, keycap sets, and mousepads that exude nostalgia for 90s SEGA. Select designs will also be available for purchase at retail partners Best Buy and Micro Center.
