Naoki Kameda

From Sega Retro

NaokiKameda.jpg
Naoki Kameda
Place of birth: Tokyo, Japan[1]
Date of birth: 1973[1] (age 50-51)
Employment history:
Sega Enterprises (1997-04[2] – 2000-04[2])
Divisions:
Intelligence USA (2000-05[2] – 2001-01[2])
Fleishman-Hillard Japan (2001-02[2] – 2002-06[2])
Sega (2002-07[2] – 2006-08[2])
Divisions:
Sega Sammy Holdings (2006-09[2] – 2011-03[2])
Sega of America (2011-04[2] – 2013-12[2])
Sega Networks (2014-01[2] – 2019-09[2])
Sega Sammy Creation (2019-10[2] – )
Role(s): Manager[2], Executive
Education: Waseda University (Law, 1991-1995)[1]

Naoki Kameda (亀田 直樹) is a Japanese businessman first employed by Sega Enterprises in 1997, where he was involved in various projects such as indoor amusement park Tokyo Joypolis and the UK launch of the Sega Dreamcast. After 2 years working for other companies, he returned to Sega in 2002, mainly dealing with business strategy and assisting Sega's president. He became a manager at Sega Sammy Holdings in 2006. After a stint as a director at Sega of America, he moved on to the North American and European mobile game segment of Sega Networks, where he eventually became COO and CFO. Since he 2-2019 he has been the president of Sega Sammy Creation USA, first also being COO, then being promoted to CEO.

Career

Sega Enterprises

Naoki Kameda's first job was at Sega Enterprises in 1997, as administrator at Tokyo Joypolis under the Amusement Theme Park Division, where he "managed part-time workers, lead service improvement [and would] entertain VIP from abroad".[3][1] In 1999 he became part of the Internal Consumer Division, where he was involved with the Dreamcast's UK launch, with roles including "international hardware shipping, software production, etc.".[3][1]

He left Sega in 2000, going on to spend a year at Intelligence USA as a recruiting consultant, then a year at Fleishman-Hillard Japan as an account executive.[3]

Second go at Sega

His return to Sega in July 2002 saw Naoki Kameda take on the responsibility of coordinating the "introduction of PC and online games for [the] US market", as part of the PC Sales, Overseas Division.[3] In 2003 he moved to the Business Strategy Department, where he supported the management of Sega's planning business strategy.[3] However, he also served as assistant to the company's president Hisao Oguchi, which became his official title in 2004, Assistant to President of Sega.[3] In 2005 Kameda was instead "responsible for business forecasting and financial planning".[3]

Naoki Kameda began working at Sega Sammy Holdings. He was a manager for 3 departments during his 5 years at the company: From August 2006 to March 2007, the Corporate Strategy Department, where he "carried out corporate planning and investment analysis"[3]; From April 2007 to March 2009, the Venture Capital Investment Department, where he would "Implement research and investment for new technologies for mobile, hardware, software, etc."[3]; From April 2009 to March 2011, the Executive Secretariat Department, where he once again was the assistant to his company's president[3], this time to Hajime Satomi[4].

USA companies

In 2011 he moved from Tokyo to the San Francisco Bay Area, becoming director of digital business planning at Sega of America. He acted as liaison between the Tokyo and San Francisco offices, but also was "responsible for mobile and digital console download business planning, including business strategy and M&A implementation". For example, he lead the project which acquired the company Three Rings Design[3]. In 2012 he was promoted to a senior position of his previous job, now also "responsible for Publishing (plan and organize approval process for new titles), organizing monthly business review system [and] supporting management of internal studios"[3]. Naoki Kameda entered Sega Networks in 2014, still located in San Francisco and keeping his liaison role. Here he was the VP of international publishing and development, which mainly saw him be "responsible for business development, working for business deals with various partners such as mobile game publishers, developers, platform companies, etc.", as well as budget approval for games[3].

When Sega Network moved to the Embarcadero Center in 2016, Kameda became their chief operating officer and chief financial officer.[3][1] Therefore, he was the leader of Sega's mobile game business in Europe, North America and and Southeast Asia, launching a plethora of free to play titles, ranging from games with in-app purchases to ad games to premium games. He managed one business unit and two development studios, Hardlight and Demiurge Studios, and completed multiple business development deals[3].

In 2019 Naoki Kameda was granted the position of president & COO of Sega Sammy Creation[1][5], now being relocated to Las Vegas. In December 2022 his COO position was exchanged for a CEO position[3][6][7][8][9].


Production history

External links

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 https://www.segasammycreation.com/ja/news/detail/61 (Wayback Machine: 2023-10-20 07:43)
  2. ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 https://archive.ph/cNL4T
  3. ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 3.15 https://archive.ph/GHC4J
  4. ↑ http://www.segasammy.co.jp/english/pr/corp/profile.html (Wayback Machine: 2009-12-08 23:33)
  5. ↑ https://www.segasammycreation.com/ja/about (Wayback Machine: 2021-09-24 11:07)
  6. ↑ https://agbrief.com/news/japan/28/12/2022/sega-sammy-creation-appoints-naoki-kameda-as-president-and-ceo/
  7. ↑ https://agbrief.com/news/japan/28/12/2022/sega-sammy-creation-appoints-naoki-kameda-as-president-and-ceo/ (Wayback Machine: 2023-10-20 06:40)
  8. ↑ https://www.ggrasia.com/sega-sammy-creation-names-kameda-president-ceo/ (Wayback Machine: 2023-10-20 06:55)
  9. ↑ https://cdcgaming.com/sega-sammy-creation-names-naoki-kameda-president-and-ceo/ (Wayback Machine: 2023-10-20 06:56)
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