Tatsumi Kimishima, who took over as President of Nintendo after the passing of Satoru Iwata, has stepped down from his current role at The 78th Annual General Meeting of Shareholders in Kyoto today. Shuntaro Furukawa will act as the new President going forward, the sixth overall since Nintendo was founded in 1889.
Furukawa issued statement to shareholders and investors following his appointment. “We want to continue being a company that creates entertainment to bring smiles to people’s faces. Based on this fundamental strategy, we will continue striving to offer products and services that anyone can enjoy, regardless of age, gender, or gaming experience by keeping our dedicated video game platform business with its integrated hardware and software at the core of our operations.
“We will continue our efforts to introduce an even wider range of consumers to the unique appeal of Nintendo Switch, [while also continuing] to expand the number of people who have access to Nintendo IP in the world beyond game platforms developed by Nintendo.”
Furukawa has a very storied history with the company. Not only is he an outside director of The Pokemon Company but was also involved in the Nintendo Switch’s development. He has been in charge of the global marketing department for Nintendo since September 2016.
Kimishima’s contributions to the company can’t be credited enough. After taking over in July 2015, Kimishima helped lead the company to its most profitable period in years with the launch of the Nintendo Switch. The console has gone on to sell almost 18 million units since launching in March 2017. How the company progresses forward under Furukawa remains to be seen but the present and near future are pretty bright.