Ken Balthaser
From Sega Retro
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| Ken Balthaser |
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| Company(ies): Sega of America |
| Role(s): Product Development Manager
Senior Vice President of Product Development |
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Ken Balthaser is the first product development manager of Sega of America, and largely responsible for bringing Western game developers to the Sega Genesis.
History
Hired in 1989 by Michael Katz to address the issue of the early Sega Genesis library having a low representation of locally-developed American games, Balthasar worked to reduce the reliance on localizing Japanese releases. Establishing connections with third-party studios for game development to expand the platform’s lineup, he began the Sega of America methodology of having company product managers supervise development of external projects. Balthaser’s contributions were also key to the establishment of Sega of America’s first in-house game development studios, and can be attributed to much of the success of the early Sega Genesis library.
Production history
- Ship (Mega Drive; unreleased) — Commissioned by