Bernie Stolar, founder of Sony Computer Entertainment America and former president of SEGA, dies

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The video game industry is in mourning. This weekend the news of the death of Bernard “Bernie” Stolar, an executive in the video game industry who was a key player in the industry in the 80s and 90s, broke. This being the founder of Sony Computer Entertainment America and president of SEGA ofAmerica.

It was GamesBeat the outlet responsible for confirming and publishing Stolar’s death. The executive died at the age of 75 in California, the state in which he was born. The cause of his death is unknown.

We at LEVEL UP send our condolences and best wishes to the family and loved ones of Bernie Stolar. Likewise, we wish that the executive finds peace in his final rest.

Who was Bernie Stolar?

Stolar’s career in the video game industry began in 1980, when he co-founded Pacific Novelty Manufacturing Inc., a company in the arcade business in California. His good work there earned him a position at Atari, where he started in the slots division and later transferred to the home console division where he handled the Atari Lynx and its release.

Stolar left Atari when Sony hired him to be one of the founders of Sony Computer Entertainment America, a division of which he was the first president. In that position he was a key point for franchises like crash bandicoot, Ridge Racer Y Spyro the Dragon.

While he did a good job at PlayStation and the brand grew, Stolar didn’t stay at Sony for long. What happens is that shortly after he was hired by Sega of America to handle the launch of the SEGA Saturn. It is worth mentioning that in March 1997 he became the chief operating officer of SEGA of America and a year later he took over as president.

Just like Tom Kalinske, Stolar had many conflicts with SEGA. One of them was when he announced that the SEGA Dreamcast would cost $199 USD, something that the Japanese executives of SEGA did not like at all, who wanted to sell it for $249 USD. Perhaps that was the reason why Stolar was fired from SEGA before the Dreamcast debuted. Of course, he did not leave empty handed and received a compensation package worth $ 5 million.

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