Editing Sega AM3 (section)

{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2023}}
{{Use American English|date=May 2023}}
{{Short description|Defunct Japanese video game developer}}
{{Good article}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Sega AM3
| logo = Hitmaker Logo.svg
| logo_alt = A letter h in a circle with an exclamation mark, followed by the word "Hitmaker"
| logo_caption = Logo used as Hitmaker Co., Ltd.
| former_name = {{ubl|Sega AM3|(1993-1999)|Sega R&D3|(1999-2000)|Hitmaker Co., Ltd.|(2000–2004)}}
| type = [[Division (business)|Division]]
| fate = [[Mergers and acquisitions|Merged]] with [[Sega Rosso]]
| foundation = {{start date and age|1993}}
| defunct = {{end date and age|2009}}
| owner = [[Sega]]
| location = Japan
| key_people = {{ubl|[[Tetsuya Mizuguchi]]|Kenji Sasaki|Kenji Kanno|[[Mie Kumagai]]}}
| industry = [[Video game industry|Video games]]
}}

{{Nihongo foot|'''Sega AM Research & Development No. 3'''|セガ第三AM研究開発部|Sega Daisan Ē Emu Kenkyū Kaihatsu Bu|group=lower-alpha|lead=yes}}, known as {{nihongo foot|'''Hitmaker Co., Ltd.'''| 株式会社ヒットメーカー|Kabushiki gaisha Hittomēkā|group=lower-alpha|lead=yes}} from 2000 to 2004, is a defunct division of [[Sega]], a Japanese [[video game]] company. Established by 1993, AM3 was managed by [[Hisao Oguchi]] and developed a number of arcade games for Sega. Series introduced by AM3 include ''[[Virtual On]]'', ''[[Sega Rally]]'', ''[[Crazy Taxi]]'', and ''[[Virtua Tennis]]''. AM3's main focus was on [[arcade game]]s until the release of the [[Dreamcast]]. Additionally, developers [[Tetsuya Mizuguchi]] and Kenji Sasaki developed ''[[Sega Rally Championship]]'' with AM3 before departing to form AM Annex, which later split into [[United Game Artists|Sega AM9]] and Sega AM5.

In 2000, Sega reorganized its studios into semi-autonomous companies, and AM3 became Hitmaker. The company expanded its development into Dreamcast games and ports, but saw a reduced amount of success in compared to previous years. However ''[[Derby Owners Club]], [[World Club Champion Football]]'' and ''[[Avalon no Kagi|The Key of Avalon]],'' proved to be highly successful in the Japanese arcade scene. All of which were made by Hitmaker and used magnetic cards.

Hitmaker was one of the few profitable studios for Sega, which gave Oguchi the opportunity to expand beyond videogames and invest into the darts business. Owing to his work on medal and card related arcade games, Oguchi was promoted within Sega.

Oguchi departed Hitmaker in 2003 to become president of Sega. As part of Oguchi's studio consolidation plan with Sega, Sasaki's Sega Rosso studio was merged into Hitmaker. The next year, Hitmaker was integrated back into Sega.  The AM3 designation would continue until 2009 until it was merged into other departments.