Matthew Handrahan Editor-in-Chief Friday 4th April 2014 Share this article Share

Masato Masuda, best known as the creator of Fire Pro Wrestling, has passed away at the age of 48.

The news broke via a tribute from Grasshopper Manufacture's Goichi Suda, who worked on Super Fire Pro Wrestling 3: Final Bout and Super Fire Pro Wrestling Special at the start of his career. In a tweet, Goichi Suda said that his mentor was, "still young."

"I genuinely pray for his happiness in the next world. He was one of the greatest creators of video games and he was my direct teacher. Thank you for giving us our favorite Fire Pro Wrestling. You are the god of it."

While working at TRY studio, Masuda created and designed Pro Wrestling on the NES virtually single-handed. The game was released in 1986, when Masuda had barely turned 20. He would remain in control of the series for many years after that early success - when the franchise became known as Fire Pro Wrestling - taking it to numerous new platforms as the industry evolved and expanded.