Nintendo President And CEO Satoru Iwata Has Passed Away

Nintendo's president and CEO, Nintendo Direct, and Iwata Asks host Satoru Iwata has unexpectedly passed away.

Nintendo issued a brief notice on its website regarding Iwata's death. The notice reads, "Nintendo Co., Ltd. deeply regrets to announce that President Satoru Iwata passed away on July 11, 2015 due to a bile duct growth."

[任天堂HP]　「代表取締役社長の逝去および異動に関するお知らせ（訃報）」を掲載しました。http://t.co/3u7PhVts1L

— 任天堂株式会社 (@Nintendo) July 12, 2015

In his stead, Genyo Takeda and Shigeru Miyamoto will share the titles of representative director and senior managing director until a successor is chosen.

Iwata skipped E3 2014 for ambiguous health reasons, and though he also skipped this year's E3, it was not due to health issues.

Before taking on an executive position, Iwata was a talented programmer and worked on notable games like Balloon Fight, EarthBound, and many Kirby games. In 1993, he took a position as president of HAL Laboratories (where he got his start) and moved over to Nintendo in 2000. In 2002, Iwata accepted the role as president of Nintendo.

[Source: Nintendo Japan, (2)]

Our Take
This is a heartbreaking surprise as Iwata was more than just a high-ranking Nintendo executive. He was a personality and representative for the company and has a long history of programming and hands-on game development for many of Nintendo's biggest games. Our condolences go out to all of his friends and family, as well as his many fans. Nintendo won't be the same without him.