According to the Verge, Nintendo’s president Satoru Iwata has died at the age of 55 and the cause of death was stated as a growth in his bile duct.
Iwata started his career as a programmer at Nintendo subsidiary HAL, contributing to games like EarthBound, Balloon Fight and the Kirby series in the 1980s.
He later joined Nintendo and was appointed its director in 2000.
Iwata took over as president from longtime boss Hiroshi Yamauchi in 2002.
Under Iwata the Japanese gaming company released the popular Nintendo DS and 3DS portable systems, as well as the Wii console in 2006.
In June 2013, he also took the role of Nintendo of America’s CEO.
The news of his death comes at a time when Nintendo was set to launch on mobile devices in a partnership with gaming firm DeNA with plans to release five titles by 2017.
Nintendo has not announced a successor but has noted that Genyo Takeda and Shigeru Miyamoto will remain as decision-making representative directors of the company. (ANI)