Visionary Nintendo CEO who launched Wii, dies of bile duct cancer aged 55

  • In a brief statement, the Kyoto-based firm said Iwata passed away on Saturday
  • A visibly thinner Iwata announced his illness last year and did not attend the firm's shareholder meeting in June 2014
  • He returned to work over the following months, and had continued to be the public face of the company, announcing financial results in May 

Nintendo's chief executive Satoru Iwata has died of cancer at the age of 55..

In a brief statement, the Kyoto-based firm - the maker of Donkey Kong and Pokemon - said Iwata passed away on Saturday, with analysts warning that his death could dent the company's turnaround plan.

Iwata led Nintendo's development into a global company, with its hit Wii home console and DS handheld, and also through its recent woes caused by the popularity of smartphones. 

A visibly thinner Iwata announced his illness last year and did not attend the firm's shareholder meeting in June 2014, although the severity of his illness was unclear at the time.

Missed: Satoru Iwata, who started off as a programmer, took the top post at Nintendo in 2002, two years after joining the firm. The 55-year-old Nintendo CEO has died 

Missed: Satoru Iwata, who started off as a programmer, took the top post at Nintendo in 2002, two years after joining the firm. The 55-year-old Nintendo CEO has died 

He returned to work over the following months, and had continued to be the public face of the company, announcing financial results in May.

'Recently, as the result of... detailed examination, a growth was found in my bile duct,' he said in a statement at the time.

'In my case, luckily, it was detected very early and I had no symptoms. I was counselled that removal at an early stage would be the desirable medical option. Therefore I had surgery last week, and I came through it well, as predicted.'

Bile duct cancer is a relatively rare, but aggressive illness that usually affects people over the age of 65, according to Britain's National Health Service.

Iwata, who started off as a programmer, took the top post at Nintendo in 2002, two years after joining the firm, but it wasn't until recently that he began the long-awaited push into the booming smartphone games market.

Iwata had earlier been criticised for his refusal to license some of the company's well-known brands for use on mobile applications.

Shares in the maker of the Wii U console fell 0.51 percent to 19,415 yen ($158) in early trading, tumbling back from a nearly five percent jump at the open.

Shares in the maker of the Wii U console fell 0.51% to 19,415 yen ($158) in early trading, tumbling back from a nearly five percent jump at the open

Shares in the maker of the Wii U console fell 0.51% to 19,415 yen ($158) in early trading, tumbling back from a nearly five percent jump at the open

Concerns: Iwata (seen in December 2004) had said 'Recently, as the result of... detailed examination, a growth was found in my bile duct' 

Concerns: Iwata (seen in December 2004) had said 'Recently, as the result of... detailed examination, a growth was found in my bile duct' 

'No one like him'

'The share price might have gone up at the start because investors were expecting some key changes after the news, but I don't think (the buying) was being driven by any particularly profound thinking,' said Satoshi Tanaka, an analyst at Daiwa Secrities Capital Markets.

'When you sit back and think about it... I don't see that there is anyone who can run the company like Iwata. Under his leadership, it was making small but steady steps forward.'

Nintendo said directors Genyo Takeda and Shigeru Miyamoto would step in to run the Super Mario creator.

'I am afraid the company might lose balance without Iwata,' Tanaka said.

Last year, Iwata said he would slash his salary in half for several months to atone for the downturn , which has struggled as rivals Sony and Microsoft outpaced it in console sales.

All three companies are also fighting off the trend toward cheap -- or sometimes free -- downloadable games for smartphones and other mobile devices.

Nintendo's chief had argued that venturing into the overpopulated world of smartphones and tablets risked hollowing out the core business and cannibalising the hard-fought value of their game creations.

But Iwata later acknowledged Nintendo had to move into new areas.

'The world is changing, so any company that is not coping with the change will fall into decline,' he said.

Nintendo in March unveiled plans to buy a stake in Tokyo-based mobile gaming company DeNA as part of a deal to develop smartphone games based on Nintendo's host of popular characters.

The changes came as Nintendo eked out a profit in its last fiscal year but warned its bottom line would shrink in the currency business year.

Nintendo reported a 41.8 billion yen net profit for the year to March -- reversing a 23.2 billion yen loss a year ago -- while revenue slipped 3.8 percent to 549.8 billion yen.

Nintendo pioneered game machines since the 1980s, developing one of the first machines and the hit Game Boy hand-held machine.

Its main rivals in the business are Sony Corp. with the PlayStation machines and Microsoft Corp. with the Xbox One machine. Both companies have done better in adapting to the era of online and mobile games.

Iwata succeeded Hiroshi Yamauchi, who ruled over the Kyoto-based company for half a century, transforming it from a traditional playing-card company to a technological powerhouse. Yamauchi died in 2013 at 85.

Iwata was picked, with Yamauchi's blessing, and Yamauchi remained adviser for many years.

Iwata was a respected and popular figure in the game industry, partly because he was relatively more approachable than executives at other Japanese companies, who tend to be aloof and rigid in demeanor.

A funeral service will be held on July 17. He is survived by his wife Kayoko. The company declined to disclose other details of his family.

Satoru Iwata, President of Nintendo, delivers a speech during the Nintendo E3 media briefing at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood, California, on July 15, 2008

Satoru Iwata, President of Nintendo, delivers a speech during the Nintendo E3 media briefing at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood, California, on July 15, 2008

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