Last night, Nintendo issued a short statement stating that, unfortunately, Satoru Iwata, president and CEO of the company, has passed away at the young age of 55. The cause was a tumor in his bile duct, a problem that he had been suffering from before but had also been receiving successful treatment for. Iwata skipped last year’s E3 for this very reason, but the obstruction was removed and he let everyone know he was progressing well. Even with these health concerns, Iwata continued to host Nintendo Directs and make regular video press releases to fans, on top of hosing investor meetings. Nintendo said that Iwata’s condition worsened rapidly after a shareholder meeting on June 26, shortly after E3.
Iwata started having health problems shortly after he apologized for the Wii U’s poor launch, and cut his pay in half in order to make amends for it. Considering Iwata’s continued service to Nintendo, even in his poor health, some fans have questioned whether or not this was a case of what is known as “Karoshi” in Japan, a death caused by overwork, over-stress, or job related exhaustion. “Karoshi” is not uncommon in Japan, as people will ignore their health concerns in fear of letting down their companies.
Iwata had recently become an icon in the eyes of fans, mostly due to his appearances in Nintendo Directs and press conferences. Before he became the president and CEO of Nintendo, Iwata worked on franchises such as Balloon Fight , EarthBound , Kirby , Pokemon , and more. Iwata also presided over some of the most successful launches in all of Nintendo history. He was president during the release of the DS, Wii, 3DS, and 2DS, all of which were tremendous successes for the big N. In a way, the Wii U was Iwata’s first serious failure as president.
Nintendo did not immediately name a successor or temporary occupant of the president and CEO position. Instead, two other executives, Genyo Takeda and Shigeru Miyamoto, will hold the post of representative director. This will allow them to make decisions that Iwata would have been making on Nintendo’s behalf.
Nintendo is facing some tough times ahead. The Wii U, while receiving high critical praise for games like Super Mario 3D World and Super Smash Bros. , is the worst selling console of this generation. Though the 3DS continues to dominate the handheld market and Nintendo is very far away from being a financial failure by any means, many important decisions are going to have to be made in the near future regarding, for example, Nintendo’s mysterious new NX console/device/multimedia aggregate. For now, no one really knows what the NX is, though apparently it will exist alongside the Wii U, and with the PS4 and Xbox One going on to close out their second year on the market, fans are still wondering if Nintendo will be able to compete. Without Iwata, Nintendo will have to make some very heavy decisions with little guidance in the near future.
What will this mean for Nintendo? What will this mean for video gamers as a whole? Who will take Iwata’s place? Honestly, I can’t say. Honestly, I think it’s going to be Miyamoto, but that’s just a guess.
I do know that Iwata will be missed. He was a great developer and a great businessman, and he died too young. Here’s hoping whoever takes his place will continue Nintendo’s legacy much as he did.