Head of Sega's American unit resigns

Japanese game giant Sega, amid a difficult turnaround, announced Friday that the head of the company's American operations has resigned.

Peter Moore, president and chief operating officer of Sega of America, has left the company after four years with the game maker, the company said in a statement. A Sega representative declined to comment on the reasons for the departure, citing company policy on personnel matters.

Tetsu Kayama, chief operating officer for Sega overall, will lead the American arm as president and chief operating officer, the company said. The change takes effect immediately.

Sega is busy with an ambitious effort to become the top third-party publisher of video game software. The company was an early leader of the video game business, producing several generations of home game consoles before leaving the hardware business two years ago with the demise of its Dreamcast console.

Since then, Sega has been making games for all three major game consoles, focusing on sports titles, online games and new areas such as cell phone games.

The company recently slashed profit forecasts for its current fiscal year, which ends March 31. Sega now expects to make $41.2 million (5 billion yen) for the year, compared with previous estimates of $148.4 million. The company blamed poor sales of several key titles, most notably its heavily promoted "NFL2K3" football game.