Nintendo of America’s Reggie Fils-Aime is retiring, with Doug Bowser set to replace him as president.

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Nintendo officially announced the transition this afternoon. After 15 years at Nintendo of America, almost 13 of which were as president and COO, Fils-Aime will retire on April 15. Nintendo of America’s current SVP of sales and marketing, Doug Bowser, will then succeed Reggie as president.Check out Reggie Fils-Aime's farewell message in the video below:“Nintendo owns a part of my heart forever,” said Fils-Aime. “It’s a part that is filled with gratitude – for the incredibly talented people I’ve worked with, for the opportunity to represent such a wonderful brand, and most of all, to feel like a member of the world’s most positive and enduring gamer community. As I look forward to departing in both good health and good humor, this is not ‘game over’ for me, but instead ‘leveling up’ to more time with my wife, family and friends.”“It has been my great fortune to work with and be mentored by Reggie for four years at Nintendo of America,” said Bowser. “And rest assured, we will continue to build on his work to evolve and expand our brand, furthering Nintendo’s global mission of creating smiles. There are millions more of those to come.”Fils-Aime has been in the public eye since Nintendo’s E3 2004 press conference, where he went on stage saying "My name is Reggie. I'm about kickin' ass, I'm about takin' names, and we're about makin' games."Following this, Fils-Aime has been a public-facing figure for Nintendo, frequently appearing in press conferences, Nintendo Directs and more. While at Nintendo of America, he expanded the company’s presence in the United States, establishing a key sales and marketing office in Redwood City, California, and building a new Nintendo of America headquarters in Redmond, Washington. Fils-Aime began his career at Nintendo of America in 2003 as executive vice president of sales and marketing, becoming its president and COO just three years later.In a message to fans posted on the Nintendo of America Twitter account, Fils-Aime says “I wanted to reach out directly to you, the Nintendo community, because there’s one thing I really want to say: thank you. Thank you for your never-ending support, and for your passionate love of Nintendo, and personally for giving me a Mushroom Kingdom full of incredible memories that I will never forget."Doug Bowser (no relation) joined Nintendo of America in May 2015 as vice president of sales. He has since led the sales and marketing efforts for Nintendo Switch, which became 2018’s best-selling console . Bowser was previously an executive at EA and worked at Procter and Gamble in various sales leadership roles.“I really appreciate everything Reggie has done for Nintendo,” said president of Nintendo Shuntaro Furukawa. “Inside and outside our company, Reggie is known as an exceptional leader. We are grateful that he is leaving the business in good shape with strong momentum. While we will miss him and we wish him the very best in his retirement, we are also pleased to have such an able successor ready to step into that role. Doug Bowser and the rest of the team will ensure a seamless transition and continued momentum for Nintendo.”In other recent Nintendo news, check out everything from last week’s jam-packed Nintendo Direct , including the announcement of a Nintendo Switch remake of Link’s Awakening, and Super Mario Maker 2.

Colin Stevens is a news writer for IGN, and his body was not ready for this news. Follow him on Twitter