Nintendo has announced that Tatsumi Kimishima will be its new President and successor to Satoru Iwata, who passed away earlier this year.
Since Iwata’s death in July, general manager of the Entertainment and Analysis division, Shigeru Miyamoto, and general manager of Nintendo’s integrated research division, Genyo Takeda, both assumed the acting role of Representative Director of Nintendo. They’ll now be stepping down from that role following Kimishima’s appointment. over the weekend.
Kimishima has assumed various leadership positions within the Japanese giant since 2000, some of which include Chief Financial Officer of the Pokémon Company and Director of Nintendo of America. Up to his appointment as President, Kimishima had been serving as head of the company’s Human Resources Division - not the most obvious candidate to be thrust to a position at the head of a century-old company.
The announcement was made in a press release on Nintendo’s website that detailed Kimishima’s previous experience at the company. The same release also detailed a number of role changes among Nintendo’s board of Directors. Most notably, Takeda and Miyamoto will both be assuming the role of Representative Directors and Senior Managing Directors.
Kimishima’s appointment comes just after Nintendo celebrated 30 years of Mario last week with a variety of tribute videos and the release of Super Mario Maker on Wii U. You can watch a special interview session with the game’s creator, Shigeru Miyamoto, and assistant director Takashi Tezuka below.
