Yoichi Wada Has Become an Outside Board Member of Genda

Genda announced that it added former Square Enix President Yoichi Wada as an outside board member. The company, currently known for running Sega’s amusement facilities, added that Wada’s management experience will help it build an even stronger management structure. [Thanks, 4Gamer!]

Born in 1959, Yoichi Wada quickly rose through the ranks in his career after joining Square in April 2000. In just eight months, he became the CEO of the company in December 2000. He also oversaw the merger between Square and Enix, which concluded in 2003, and was appointed as the new company’s president. Wada also became Taito’s president after the subsidiary, acquired in 2005, was restructured in 2006. In the same year, he became the chairman of the Computer Entertainment Supplier’s Association, which primarily holds the annual Tokyo Game Show.

Yoichi Wada stepped down as the CESA chairman in 2012 and the Square Enix president in 2013. While he still remained in Square Enix, he set up a cloud gaming company named Shinra Technologies in 2014. However, Wada left Square Enix entirely on June 16, 2015, and Shinra Technologies was eventually closed in 2016. He is currently the president of Metaps Payment, a company handling payment services.

Genda became widely known after it acquired Sega Entertainment in late 2020. Although the amusement facility management subsidiary is now known as Genda Sega Entertainment, it kept the original Sega title and logo on the facilities. It also still works closely with Sega and Atlus to host new arcade games like Initial D The Arcade and hold temporary Persona 5 Royal Pop Up Stores.