Sega names new HitMaker president

Following the promotion of Hisao Oguchi to president of Sega earlier this week, the company has named his replacement at the HitMaker studio - Virtua Tennis producer Mie Kumagai, who becomes Sega's first female studio president.

In fact, Kumagai-san will be the first female president of any Japanese game development studio, according to a Sega spokesperson. She has worked with Sega since 1993, with her work on the Virtua Tennis series drawing considerable praise.

The Japanese game development industry is still seen as primarily a male-dominated one, despite the fact that Japanese women play significantly more games than their western counterparts, and that the industry itself employs many female artists and designers.