Splatoon helps Nintendo return to profit in Satoru Iwata’s final quarter

Satoru Iwata’s last quarter as chief executive of Nintendo was a good one. The Japanese video game company reported it returned to profitability for operating income in its first quarter ending June 30.

The paint-shooting game Splatoon and a weaker yen enabled Nintendo to report a small profit, just after 55-year-old Iwata died from cancer on July 11. It’s just another small part of a legacy of success that Iwata left at the Kyoto, Japan-based company.

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Dean Takahashi

Dean Takahashi is editorial director for GamesBeat. He has been a tech journalist since 1988, and he has covered games as a beat since 1996. He was lead writer for GamesBeat at VentureBeat from 2008 to April 2025. Prior to that, he wrote for the San Jose Mercury News, the Red Herring, the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, and the Dallas Times-Herald. He is the author of two books, "Opening the Xbox" and "The Xbox 360 Uncloaked." He organizes the annual GamesBeat Next, GamesBeat Summit and GamesBeat Insider Series: Hollywood and Games conferences and is a frequent speaker at gaming and tech events. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.