NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang Reveals Sega's $5 Million Investment Saved the Company
The event publicly cemented a historical debt that shaped NVIDIA's survival and eventual dominance in graphics and AI, while simultaneously showcasing the RTX Spark platform with a flagship Sega title as a symbol of the two companies' renewed collaboration.
Key Facts
- NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang stated that Sega invested approximately $5 million in NVIDIA in the mid-1990s after the failed NV2 project.
- The event took place on July 15, 2026, at GiGO Akihabara Building 3 in Tokyo.
- VIRTUA FIGHTER CROSSROADS was demonstrated running on an RTX Spark laptop for the first time at the event.
- The NVIDIA RTX Spark platform is scheduled for release in autumn 2026.
- VIRTUA FIGHTER CROSSROADS is planned for release in 2027.
Reporting from 6 sources: 4Gamer.net, Automaton, ASCII.jp, Denfaminicogamer, and 2 more.
On July 15, 2026, NVIDIA and Sega held an invitation-only fan event at GiGO Akihabara Building 3 in Tokyo, bringing together NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang, Sega Chairman Harunori Satomi, President Kunifumi Utsumi, former Sega President Shoichiro Irimajiri, and Virtua Fighter creator Yu Suzuki. Huang recounted a little-known history: in the mid-1990s, NVIDIA was developing the NV2 GPU for Sega's next-generation console (later the Dreamcast) but realized after nine months that its technology-quadrilateral polygons and forward texture mapping-was wrong. Facing bankruptcy, Huang asked Irimajiri to cancel the contract and provide financial support. Irimajiri agreed, and Sega invested approximately $5 million (about 500 million yen). That funding allowed NVIDIA to pivot to triangular polygons and inverse texture mapping, leading to the successful RIVA 128 and ultimately the GeForce line. Huang stated, "Without what Sega did for NVIDIA, today's NVIDIA would not exist." The event also featured the world premiere of VIRTUA FIGHTER CROSSROADS running on an RTX Spark laptop. NVIDIA and Sega announced a partnership to bring future Sega titles to the RTX Spark platform, which launches in autumn 2026. VIRTUA FIGHTER CROSSROADS is scheduled for release in 2027.
Huang's recollection included technical details that explained why NVIDIA's early architecture failed. The NV1 and the Sega Saturn's VDP1 both used quadrilateral polygons and forward texture mapping, a method prone to drawing gaps and incompatible with Direct3D's triangular polygon standard. When Microsoft chose triangles for DirectX, NVIDIA's approach became obsolete. Huang admitted, "NVIDIA chose the wrong technology." Irimajiri's decision to invest despite the project's cancellation gave NVIDIA the runway to develop the RIVA 128, its first DirectX-compatible GPU, released in 1997.
The event also included a lottery for attendees, with prizes including two GeForce RTX 5090 GPUs signed by Huang, Irimajiri, and Suzuki, and two unreleased RTX Spark laptops. Huang signed fan items including a Dreamcast brought from Osaka. The demonstration of VIRTUA FIGHTER CROSSROADS on RTX Spark hardware marked the first public showing of the game running on actual silicon. Huang described the RTX Spark as "a Personal AI that reinvents the Personal Computer." Sega has not specified which additional titles will support the platform.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 6 cited sources below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.
Sources
- 4Gamer.net 「NV2」の開発失敗で窮地に陥ったNVIDIAを救ったセガ。CEOのジェンスン・フアン氏が語ったセガとの友情秘話
- Automaton セガが救ったから今のNVIDIAがある。NVIDIAのCEOとセガのレジェンドたちが“アキバのゲーセン”に集結、ドリームキャスト開発秘話も飛び出したイベントまとめ
- ASCII.jp NVIDIAのジェンスン・フアン氏が秋葉原でセガに賛辞 これは巨大テック企業のトップによる社交辞令ではなく、セガのゲームに脳を焼かれたゲーマーの叫びだ
- Denfaminicogamer NVIDIAのCEO ジェンスン・フアン氏がセガとの思い出を語る。元セガ社長 入交氏が、約30年前のNVIDIAに約5億円の資金支援を決断──「入交さんのサポートと友情がなければ、今日のことはありませんでした」
- Game Spark かつて、NVIDIAはセガに救われた…“革ジャン”ことジェン・スン・フアンCEO来日！『バーチャ』新作映像のチラ見せもあった「NVIDIA × セガ 共同ゲーマーイベント」イベントレポート
- GIGAZINE NVIDIAとセガがパートナーシップを締結、「バーチャファイター クロスロード」などのSEGAタイトルがNVIDIA RTX Sparkでプレイ可能に