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2026 marks a changing of the guard for Bandai Namco and Nintendo, respectively.
So Long, Doug Bowser
Doug Bowser shared a simple, tongue-in-cheek thank you on his personal account on Twitter. It came with a picture of an amigurumi Bowser moving outside an office with a picture of Bowser on the door.
Bowser was not a public facing figure for Nintendo in the same way Satoru Iwata and Reggie Fils-Aime were. But this gag came with the same tone as his thank you message when he first joined Nintendo.
Bowser joined Nintendo in 2015 as vice president of sales. In this capacity, he oversaw the launch of the Nintendo Switch in 2016.
He is best known for his seven year tenure as president and chief operating officer of Nintendo of America. He was also Nintendo’s representative with the ESA.
From selling the Switch, Bowser transitioned to managing Nintendo through turbulent times. He came in just in time for the pandemic.
Nintendo saw great success with Animal Crossing New Horizons during the lockdown. However, he also had to steer the ship when gaming’s market shrank back after lockdowns ended.
Lastly, Bowser made the key decisions for pricing and scheduling the launch of the Nintendo Switch 2 and Switch 2’s games. Nintendo faced criticism for many of those decisions, but the Switch 2 is now clearly in a generational run as one of the fastest selling consoles ever.
As of January 1, 2026, Devon Pritchard has stepped up as Nintendo of America’s president and COO.
Harada Tekken Is Over
Harada shared this message on his Twitter account at the last day of 2025:
I’m no longer a developer / creator of the TEKKEN series.
Harada_TEKKEN is completely dead.
Harada shared a longer message at the start of December where he announced and explained his retirement. In his words:
With the TEKKEN series reaching its 30th anniversary—an important milestone for a project I’ve devoted much of my life to—I felt this was the most fitting moment to bring one chapter to a close.
Harada started in Namco in 1994, successfully surpassing sales records at their arcade division. In the same year, he joined Tekken project, and by Tekken 3 in 1997, he stepped up as director.
Harada is best known as project head and steward of the Tekken franchise through the years. However, he also had a hand assisting and directing other games for Bandai Namco.
Harada led other core Bandai Namco franchises like Ace Combat and Project x Zone. He wasn’t afraid to take risks, bringing both Lost Reavers and Pokken Tournament to the Wii U. His last game credit is as executive producer for the wild reimagining of Pac-Man, Shadow Labyrinth.
Harada was no longer directly involved in Tekken for years. In fact, he explained he spent the last five years delegating his roles in Bandai Namco to prepare for retirement.
We wish both Doug Bowser and Katsuhiro Harada the best for the future and thank them for their contributions to the video game industry.
