There’s some incredibly sad news coming out of Japan today – with Sega confirming the death of legendary game developer Rieko Kodama earlier this year in May. It was fair Weeks after her 59th birthday. No other details were shared out of respect for her family’s privacy.

Sega producer Yosuke Oskunari revealed that Kodama publicly admitted this after discovering a souvenir of her in the Mega Drive Mini 2 credits:

Kodama was one of the first female video game developers to make a name for herself, often associated with Sega role-playing games. It has also been officially recognized as a Industry Pioneer With a career in game development that spanned more than three decades.

Rieko Kodama got his start at Sega in 1984 as a graphic designer – working on games like boxing championAnd the Alex KiddAnd the monster changed And the sonic the hedgehogand went on to become a director and producer for series like fantasy star And the Arcadia sky. In recent years, it has been the main product in Emaar Sega Line.

On behalf of the entire community here at Nintendo Life, our thoughts go to the Kodama family, friends, and colleagues during this difficult time.

Note: Rikko Kodama was 58 years old when she passed away earlier this year, not 59 as previously stated. We have updated the article accordingly and apologize for the error.