Mike Hayes to leave Sega this summer

Mike Hayes is to leave his post as Sega West president this summer, according to MCV.

His replacement will be Sega Europe COO Jurgen Post. Hayes will now focus on commitments inside and outside the games industry, having recently become a trustee at the Birmingham Hippodrove Theatre Trust.

"Mike has achieved a huge amount during his time at Sega and we thank him for the amazing things he has accomplished," said president Naoya Tsurumi in a statement.

"Mike is a great character and very passionate about the industry, he helped steer the extraordinary growth of Sega and has built an exceptional team of professionals that will stand us in good stead for the future.”

Hayes took over the reins of Sega's US arm in 2009 alongside his responsibilities for Europe after then western boss Simon Jeffery departed for ngmoco.

Before that, experience included Nintendo, Bandai, Codemasters, NTL and others.

In his time at the publisher, Hayes has seen Sega bring in UK studios Sports Interactive and Creative Assembly as part of its line-up, underlining the UK part of the publisher as one of its key strengths.

We spoke to him just before gamescom last August about Sonic 4: Episode 2, Vita's launch, how it would continue to look at existing IP and other things.