Updated: | Originally published: ;
Nintendo President and CEO Satoru Iwata died Saturday due to a bile duct growth, the company announced Sunday.
Iwata, 55, was appointed president of the gaming company in 2002, overseeing the launch of the hugely successful Wii console, the Nintendo DS handheld and its line of Amiibo interactive figurines.
In March, he spoke to TIME about the company’s plans to move into the smartphone gaming market.
When he replaced longtime president Hiroshi Yamauchi, Iwata became only the fourth president in the history of the company and the first from outside the Yamauchi family.
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