In Memoriam: Satoru Iwata

Nintendo’s president Satoru Iwata has, we’re sorry to announce, passed away at the age of 55. Nintendo confirmed the news in a statement, which simply reads:

Nintendo Co., Ltd. deeply regrets to announce that President Satoru Iwata passed away on July 11, 2015 due to a bile duct growth.

Iwata climbed Nintendo’s ranks since joining the company as a programmer in the 1980s, and followed Hiroshi Yamauchi as president in 2002. Since then, he’s become the public face of the company, presenting its Nintendo Direct broadcasts, hosting interviews with developers (the Iwata Asks series) and even appearing in puppet form at E3 in June.

Iwata helped bring some of Nintendo’s most popular consoles to market, including the Wii and 3DS. Nintendo’s latest home console, the Wii U, has struggled to repeat the success of the Wii, but its successor, currently dubbed the NX, is already being developed.

In recent months, he helped move the fiercely traditionalist company into new areas; a deal with Japanese mobile giant DeNA will eventually see Nintendo’s games and make their debut on smartphones, while a venture with Universal will see its characters appear in the latter’s chain of theme parks.

For more than a decade, Iwata presided over one of the most - if not the most - recognisable brands on the planet. Who will follow him after such a sudden and sad loss isn’t currently clear.

Satoru Iwata is survived by his wife, Kayoko.