Nintendo President Satoru Iwata, who had served as leader of the company since 2002 and who presided over the launch of the monumentally successful Wii video game console, died Saturday.
He was 55.
Nintendo announced Iwata's death with a brief statement on its corporate website Sunday. Iwata, according to the statement, died due to a bile duct growth.
Iwata, who had been known to be in ill health, had skipped North America's largest video game trade show, the Electronic Entertainment Expo, for the last two years.