Sega-Veteran und Branchenlegende Rieko Kodama ist verstorben, Alt 59

There’s some incredibly sad news coming out of Japan today – Sega bestätigt den Tod des legendären Spieleentwicklers Rieko Kodama 59 years of age. SEGA producer Yosuke Oskunari revealed Kodama had passed away after a memorial message for Kodama was discovered in the credits of the Mega Drive Mini 2:

Kodama was one of the first females in video game development to make a name for herself and was often associated with Sega’s role-playing games. She’s also been formally recognised as a pioneer of the industry – with her career in game development spanning more than three decades.

Rieko Kodama started out at Sega in 1984 as a graphic designer working on games like Champion Boxing, Alex Kidd, Verändertes Biest und Sonic the Hedgehog and went on to become a director and producer for series like Fantasiestern und Himmel von Arkadien. In more recent years, she worked on the Sega-Zeitalter line as the lead producer.

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