Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has passed away, aged 55.

A statement from Nintendo reads: “Nintendo Co., Ltd. deeply regrets to announce that President Satoru Iwata passed away on July 11, 2015 due to a bile duct growth.”

Iwata had suffered through poor health for some time. He was forced to skip last year’s E3, and shortly afterwards underwent surgery to remove a bile duct growth.

Iwata joined Nintendo’s HAL Laboratory in the 1980s, where he worked on games like Balloon Fight and EarthBound.

He became a director of the company in 2000, and in 2002 was appointed as the fourth Nintendo president, following Hiroshi Yamauchi.

He oversaw the massive success of the Wii and DS, but also the struggles of the GameCube and Wii U.

Senior managing directors Shigeru Miyamoto and Genyo Takeda will govern Nintendo until Iwata’s successor is chosen.