Satoru Iwata, the popular and respected chief executive of the video game maker Nintendo, has died of cancer. He was 55.
In a brief statement the Kyoto-based firm — the maker of Donkey Kong and Super Mario — said that Mr Iwata passed away on Saturday.
His death comes just months after he abandoned a consoles-only policy and launched an initiative into the booming smartphone games market.
Analysts have warned that his death could be a blow to the company’s plan for a change of direction.
Mr Iwata’s illness has been known since June last year, when it was announced that he would not attend the company’s shareholder meeting. It later emerged that he had bile duct cancer.
He returned to work over the following