Japanese corporate giant Sega Sammy has a new group CEO in Haruki Satomi (pictured).

Previously, he was the company's group COO, as well as president and representative director - roles he had held since April 2017.

He is replacing his father, Hajime Satomi, in the CEO role, who is stepping down from the top job but is still working at the firm as chair or the board and a representative director.

Haruki Satomi has also been chairman and CEO of Sega Corporation since April 2017.

Hajime Satomi founded Sammy Corporation – then called Sammy Industry – back in 1975 as a spin-off from the Satomi Corporation. The company rose to prominence in the 70s and 80s thanks to arcade video games and pachislot machines. Having previously bought 22 per cent of Sega's shares in 2003, Hajime Satomi snapped up the controlling interest in the Sonic the Hedgehog maker, forming a new corporate giant called Sega Sammy Holdings.

This switch-up in Sega Sammy management comes following Sega president and chief publishing officer Kenji Matsubara resigning from the company in July 2020 due to personal reasons.

Last year, Sega also said that it was doubling down on PC ports after the coronavirus pandemic caused a surge in sales on Steam last year. This included PlayStation Vita title Persona 4 Golden, which came to PC in June 2020 and saw wild success. While this part of the business is doing well, Sega Sammy sold off its arcade business – Sega Entertainment – to Genda Inc, following the company calling for 650 members of staff to take voluntary redundancy. 

At the end of 2020, Sega's European publishing arm said that it was looking to invest in more new IP, rather than simply relying on its existing franchises.