The president of Nintendo has died after more than a year of failing health, the company announced.
Satoru Iwata died on Saturday “due to a bile duct growth,” the brief statement said.
The 55-year-old executive revealed in June 2014 he’d had surgery to remove a growth, but he was optimistic about recovering.
“I have already resumed my business by email and by other means, but it is anticipated that a little more time is needed for me to return to my regular work schedule,” he wrote in a note in 2014 to explain his absence from the annual shareholders meeting.
Iwata was appointed director of the gaming company in 2000.
He became the face of the brand, introduced to loyalists as the host of a series of videotaped game updates called Nintendo Direct.
His straitlaced persona served as the inspiration for scores of parody Twitter accounts.
Most riffed on his habit of saying “please understand” as he explained the latest in the company’s offerings.
He continued to appear on Nintendo Direct through April.
