Skies of Arcadia producer and crew chief on the unique Phantasy Star video games Rieko Kodama has handed away at age 58. According to a Sega assertion to IGN, Kodama handed away in 5 months in the past in May 2022. No explanation for demise was given.

Word of Kodama’s attainable demise started to unfold after homeowners of Sega’s Mega Drive Mini II retro console observed her inclusion within the console’s credit, which acknowledged “In Memory of Rieko Kodama.” In response to queries in regards to the message, Sega Producer Yosuke Okunari confirmed fan suspicions, writing “as you perceive it. We revered her.”

Kodama’s three-decade profession in video video games (which she started underneath the identify Phoenix Rie) spanned a number of console generations and sport genres. She is commonly credited for being a trailblazing artist, director, and producer in an period when ladies’s contributions to the online game business had been less-recognized. 

Her early video games at Sega included work on video games llike Champion Boxing, Sega Ninja, and Quartet. Her artwork appeared in a number of landmark Sega titles together with Altered Beast and Sonic the Hedgehog. Most lately, she produced the Sega Ages sequence of basic sport ports on Nintendo Switch. Many of these ports introduced video games she helped create to fashionable audiences.

In 2019, the organizers of Game Developers Conference (disclaimer: our sibling group) honored Kodama with the Pioneer award. In a message the place she accepted the award, she gave thanks fellow Sega collaborators like Yoshiki Kawasaki for supporting her in her profession.

In a uncommon interview with Kotaku across the similar time interval, Kodama mirrored on the success of Skies of Arcadia, which has remained a cult basic amongst followers of Japanese Role-Playing Games. “Portrayal of darkish worlds was definitely what was trending in Japan on the time, however our crew most popular to create an optimistic protagonist who explored the world,” she mentioned in reflection. “[That] gave beginning to Skies of Arcadia’s state of affairs and characters.”

With Kodama’s passing, the online game business has misplaced one of many few ladies who has been a relentless presence from the console business’s early days all the way in which into the fashionable period. Even fewer have labored on so many titles that will encourage sport builders across the globe.