He paved the way for modern gaming!
Long before Xbox Game Pass or PlayStation Now, there was Sega Channel—the world’s first console-based game streaming service. And at the center of this innovation was Stan Thomas, a pioneering Black executive who took the helm as Sega Channel President in 1994, Time Extension reports. A Yale graduate, Thomas came over to the gaming giant from HBO, where he served for 11 years. One of the few Black executives in emerging gaming technologies at the time, Thomas’ leadership would prove invaluable for helping shape the future of gaming as we know it today.
In the early 1990s, when video game consoles relied solely on cartridges, Thomas saw a different future—one where players could access games directly through their cable provider. As the president of Sega during this transformative time, he played a pivotal role in making Sega Channel a reality. Launched in 1994, Sega Channel was ahead of its time, allowing gamers to download and play titles on demand via a cable modem—a revolutionary concept that laid the foundation for modern cloud gaming. Through a partnership between Sega of America and the cable companies TeleCommunications, Inc. and Time Warner, Thomas paved the way for the future of streaming.
Under Thomas’s leadership, Sega Channel gave gamers access to over 50 rotating titles each month, exclusive game demos, and even early access to future releases using a special adaptor that plugged into their cable box. Though the service only lasted until 1998, marked by Thomas’ untimely passing in 1995 at the age of 52 due to non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, it proved that digital distribution was possible, inspiring the gaming industry to push toward the online services we now take for granted.
Thomas’s impact extended beyond innovation. As a Black executive in a space where representation was (and still is) limited, he broke barriers and opened doors for future leaders in gaming and tech. His vision and contributions remind us that many of the industry’s most significant advancements have been fueled by Black excellence.
Cover photo: Meet Stan Thomas, the Sega President Who Spearheaded One of the First Game Streaming Services/Photo credit: Karjean Levine/Getty Images