Tragic news out of the gaming world, as Nintendo president Satoru Iwata passed away yesterday at age 55 due to a bile duct growth. The news of Iwata’s passing was first reported via a brief statement issued by Nintendo.
Nintendo Co., Ltd. deeply regrets to announce that President Satoru Iwata passed away on July 11, 2015 due to a bile duct growth
Iwata had been dealing with health issues for the past few years. The Nintendo CEO had been forced to miss the 2014 E3 conference due to issues regarding his bile duct and was also forced to miss the publisher’s most recent showing at E3, although Nintendo had claimed that was due to business matters at the time.
A true company man, Iwata had been with Nintendo for essentially his entire professional career. He started working at HAL Laboratory, Inc. in the 1980’s and eventually transitioned to the president of HAL in 1993. After taking the position of Head of Corporate Planning Division at Nintendo in 2000, Iwata would go onto succeed Hiroshi Yamaguchi as president in May 2002. He would also go onto lead Nintendo of America in April 2013.
The video game community lost a true visionary today, and our thoughts are with the friends and loved ones of Satoru Iwata.