Nintendo president Tatsumi Kimishima is to retire from the role as of June 28th 2018.

Kimishima was appointed company president in September 2015 following the passing of previous incumbent Saturo Iwata.

Though the console had already been in development, he shepherded the launch of the the Nintendo Switch which to date has proven highly successful for the company.

He also led the company through the launch of its first mobile titles. The partnership with DeNA though had been sealed in March 2015.

Nintendo's new boss

Kimishima will be replaced by current managing executive officer Shuntaro Furukawa, who has been with the company since 1994.

Other directors also set to retire include senior executive officer Susumu Tanaka and outside director Yoshimi Mitamura.

Current Nintendo of Europe CEO and president Satoru Shibata has been named as a company director.

New executive officers include Yoshiaki Koizumi, Takashi Tezuka and Hajime Murakami.

On the up

New Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa takes over at a time when Nintendo is in the ascendency. The company had struggled with its previous Wii U console launch, but has put itself back on track with the Switch.

The new console has sold nearly 18 million units to date, while the company has had some success in the mobile space with launches such as Fire Emblem Heroes and Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp.

Recently the company also signed a deal with Minions film studio Illumination to develop an animated Super Mario movie.

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