David Rosen, who helped create Sega and played a major role in building Japan’s arcade industry, died on December 25 at age 95. His spokesman confirmed he passed away on Christmas Day with family by his side.

Rosen, a former American Airman, began working in Japan during the 1950s. He started a company called Rosen Enterprises Ltd, which first handled art dealing and ID card photography. Later in that decade, he noticed that people in post-war Japan had more money to spend on entertainment. This led him to start bringing coin-operated arcade machines from the United States to Japan—a business that required special approval from the Japan Ministry of International Trade and Industry.

The arcade machines proved extremely popular. In a 1996 interview with Next Generation Magazine, Rosen said the machines were “tremendously successful” from the start. Despite heavy import fees of 200%, he said the machines typically paid for themselves in less than two months. Rosen opened arcades with shooting and hunting games across Japan, eventually expanding to nearly every city in the country.

As Japan’s amusement industry grew in the early 1960s, other companies took notice of Rosen’s success. One company, Nihon Goraku Bussan, approached him about combining their businesses. In 1965, the two companies merged to form Sega Enterprises Ltd, combining “Sega” from Nihon Goraku Bussan’s brand name with “Enterprises” from Rosen’s company. Rosen became CEO and President after the merger.

The newly formed company launched its first original game, Periscope, in 1966. This marked the start of Sega’s identity as a video game creator. The next year, Rosen helped found the Japan Amusement Association and served as its chairman.

Rosen led Sega for about two more decades. The company was sold to Gulf+Western Industries in 1969, though Rosen stayed on as CEO of the Sega division. When Gulf+Western decided to sell Sega in 1984, Rosen and fellow executive Hayao Nakayama organized a group to buy back Sega’s Japanese operations.

Rosen then helped establish Sega of America in Los Angeles, where he served as co-president until July 1996. During this time, he oversaw the release of Sega’s major game consoles up through the Sega Saturn.