Sega AM3 R&D Division

Hitmaker was a SEGA-owned development studio based in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan. The studio was created in 1990 when part of Sega's amusement division was split off into a new team officially called Sega AM3 R&D Division, headed by Hisao Oguchi.

Like the other AM divisions, AM3 originally worked exclusively on arcade titles, and were known for a wide range of franchises including Crazy Taxi, Virtual On, Virtua Tennis, and Derby Owners Club. Along with each of Sega's other development divisions, AM3 was spun off as an independent studio on April 21, 2000, taking the name Hitmaker.

Sega Rosso was merged into Hitmaker in October 2003, and Hitmaker itself was merged back into Sega in July 2004. Hisao Ogawa was the studio head from its inception until his promotion to Sega's management team in 2004, at which point Mie Kumagai took over.

Today staff exists at the AM1 and AM2 arcade studios within Sega.