Nintendo announced Tatsumi Kimishima will serve as the video game maker’s next president and CEO following the death of Satoru Iwata in July from a bile duct growth. Kimishima had run Nintendo’s human resources division since 2014. Prior to that role, the 65-year-old executive served as director and CEO of Nintendo of America in 2006, and president of The Pokemon Company in 2000.
Shigeru Miyamoto — creator of key Nintendo franchises Super Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda — will serve as a Creative Fellow, while Genyo Takeda will assume the role of Technology Fellow. Both executives were rumored to be potential successors to Iwata.
Nintendo describes the newly-created Fellow roles as executives with “advanced knowledge and extensive experience, and holds the role of providing advice and guidance regarding organizational operations in a specialized area.”
Kimishima takes over Nintendo at a critical point in its history. Earlier this year, Nintendo reached a deal with games company DeNA to create games featuring Mario, Link and other popular characters for smartphones and tablets. Meanwhile, the company is planning to unveil the first details next year on a successor to the Wii U home console, code-named NX.
Iwata ran Nintendo during one of the company’s most successful runs. During his tenure, Nintendo launched the DS handheld. Along with the revamped 3DS, the DS combined to sell 200 million units to date. In 2006, Nintendo launched the Wii, its most successful home console, topping 101 million in sales.
