Brett Molina

USA TODAY

Nintendo president and CEO Satoru Iwata, who ran the Japanese video game publisher during one of its most successful periods, died at 55, the company revealed in a statement Sunday.

Iwata died on July 11 from a bile duct growth, Nintendo announced in a statement.

Iwata's health troubles first came to light last year in a statement to shareholders, when he revealed he had surgery in June to remove a growth in his bile duct. However, Iwata said the growth was detected "very early" and he suffered no symptoms.

Iwata joined Nintendo in 2000 as a Director before becoming the video game publisher's president two years later. In 2013, Iwata also took over the CEO role at Nintendo of America.

"Mr. Iwata is gone, but it will be years before his impact on both Nintendo and the full video game industry will be fully appreciated," said Reggie Fils-Aime, President and Chief Operating Officer of Nintendo of America, in a statement. "He was a strong leader for our company, and his attributes were clear to most everyone: Intelligence, creativity, curiosity and sense of humor. But for those of us fortunate enough to work closely with him, what will be remembered most were his mentorship and, especially, his friendship."

Iwata ran Nintendo during the launches of two significant products: the DS handheld in 2004 and the Wii home console in 2006. The portable DS and successor 3DS sold more than 200 million units combined to date, while the Wii became Nintendo's most popular home video game console, with more than 101 million units sold.

"He kept them true to their core mission," said Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter on Iwata's legacy. "They were consistently creative. They consistently made great games."

"He was a wonderful man," says Fils-Aime. "He always challenged us to push forward…to try the new…to upset paradigms—and most of all, to engage, excite and endear our fans. That work will continue uninterrupted."

News of Iwata's death shocked many in the video game industry, with several people taking to Twitter to share their condolences.

Follow Brett Molina on Twitter: @brettmolina23.