Nintendo president Reggie Fils-Aime retires, to be replaced by Bowser (seriously)

Evan Lewis
Updated
Nintendo president Reggie Fils-Aime retires, to be replaced by Bowser

President of Nintendo of America Reggie Fils-Aime will be stepping down from his post at the gaming juggernaut on April 15. Fils-Aime’s successor as the head of Nintendo’s U.S. division will be none other than Doug Bowser (not that Bowser), who is moving up from his previous role as senior vice president of sales and marketing.

Fils-Aime joined Nintendo of America in 2003 as executive vice president of sales and marketing and has served as the president and COO of the company since 2006. Known both for his energetic personality and business acumen, Fils-Aime became one of Nintendo’s most recognizable faces through appearances at gaming conferences such as E3.

His tenure at the company’s helm overlapped with the release of Nintendo’s extremely successful Wii, 3DS, and Switch consoles (as well as the Wii U, but let’s not talk about that). Fils-Aime, whose pre-Nintendo executive resume includes properties ranging from Pizza Hut to Guinness to VH1, is retiring to spend more time with family.

“Nintendo owns a part of my heart forever,” Fils-Aime said in a statement. “As I look forward to departing in both good health and good humor, this is not ‘game over’ for me, but instead ‘leveling up.’”

Bowser has spent the last three decades kidnapping princesses and acting as Commander in Chief to a koopa and goomba military… wait, scratch that. Bowser arrived at Nintendo of America in 2015 as vice president of sales and quickly moved up to lead the marketing campaign for the Switch, which sold faster than any other console this generation. Prior to his work at Nintendo, Bowser held positions at Electronic Arts and Procter & Gamble.

Bowser, who counts Fils-Aime as a personal mentor, pledges to maintain Nintendo of America’s current momentum when he takes the lead later this year. “Rest assured, we will continue to build on his work to evolve and expand our brand, furthering Nintendo’s global mission of creating smiles,” Bowser said. “There are millions more of those to come.”