Namco founder Masaya Nakamura has passed away at the age of 91.

According to a press release from the publisher, as translated by Kotaku, Nakamura passed away on January 22nd.

Nakamura was a key figure in the formation of Japan’s enormous games industry, founding Nakamura Manufacturing in 1955 as an amusement-ride company.

The firm was later renamed Nakamura Amusement Machine Manufacturing Company.

Key figure

The company began expanding into the emerging video games market in the 1980s, releasing the smash hit Pac-Man – a title still known in popular culture today.

Its other early titles included Galaxian, Galaga and Dig Dug, and it 90s portfolio also included hits such as Ridge Racer and Tekken.

Namco merged with Bandai in 2005 to become Bandai Namco Holdings, making it one of the largest video games companies in Japan.

In 2007, the Japanese government awarded Nakamura with the Order of the Rising Sun for his achievements in building a multi-billion dollar company and playing a key role in the formation of the local games industry.

The company is still going strong today, and in November posted sales of $2.82 billion for the six months ending September 30th.

An increase in revenues was thanks in part to its mobile games such as Dragon Ball Z: Dokkan Battle and The iDOLM@ASTER Cindrella Girls: Starlight Stage.