Nintendo President Satoru Iwata, who oversaw some of the gaming giant’s biggest successes but also painful failures, has died of a bile duct growth, the company said.

Iwata passed away Saturday at age 55 after working 13 years as president, a period that saw the gaming industry transition from dedicated consoles and PCs to mobile devices, a move that Nintendo was slow to embrace.

Nintendo said board members Genyo Takeda and Shigeru Miyamoto will continue to act as representative directors, a position required by Japanese corporate regulations. A new president has not been appointed.

“His style was to speak directly to gaming fans around the world,” said Takuya Yoshimura, a general manager in the company’s General Affairs Department, who noted Iwata’s presiding over the launch of the Nintendo DS, Wii and 3DS.

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