Nintendo of America’s president and COO, Doug Bowser, has announced his retirement from the company. Bowser will take his leave at the end of the company and will be succeeded by Devon Pritchard.
Bowser stepped in as Nintendo of America’s president in 2019 following over 10 years in leadership positions. Bowser’s tenure as president spanned the bulk of the Nintendo Switch’s lifecycle as well as the launch of the Nintendo Switch 2. Bowser has also been in charge during many of the company’s expansions into theme parks and transmedia.
“One of my earliest video game experiences was playing the arcade version of Donkey Kong,” Bowser said in a press release. “Since that time, all things Nintendo have continued to be a passion for both me and my family. Leading Nintendo of America has been the honor of a lifetime, and I am proud of what our team has accomplished in both business results and the experiences we’ve created for consumers.”
President Shuntaro Furukawa thanked Bowser for his work over the years, saying that he “made numerous contributions to bring smiles to the faces of people connected to Nintendo.”
Pritchard will step in to fill the role left by Bowser. Pritchard will be the first female to hold the position of president within the company. With over 19 years in the video game industry, Pritchard is also a long-standing Nintendo of America leadership team. Over her career, she has held executive positions in Marketing, Business Affairs, and Publisher Relations. Come the end of the year, Pritchard will leave behind her current Executive Vice President of Revenue, Marketing and Consumer Experience position
“I am humbled and excited to take on this new role,” said Pritchard. “Doug has been a fantastic mentor, and I look forward to building on the incredible foundation he has helped establish. With characters and worlds that offer something for everyone, my focus will be continuing to build on Nintendo’s legacy of surprising and delighting our longtime fans, while at the same time welcoming new players into the Nintendo family.”
Aside from Bowser’s retirement, there appears to be a bit of restructuring happening within the company. Satoru Shibata has been announced to be joining Nintendo of America as Chief Executive Officer. This new role will be on top of the current Managing Executive Officer and Corporate Director position, as well as Member of the Board at Nintendo.
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Regi fils-aime was EVERYWHERE. Doug bowser was a ghost. Switch marketing SUCKS. Nintendo has a lot of work to do to be relevant to youth and families, what happened to Nintendo being synonymous with POWER? They need a marketing strategy that has cool factor again.