Read from Siliconera:
Sega confirmed on October 27th that Rieko Kodama, a veteran developer at the company and a pioneering figure in the games industry, died in May 2022. The company had not shared news of her death at the time out of respect for the privacy of her family. Her death became public knowledge after people spotted a memorial tribute to Kodama in the staff credits of the newly-released Sega Genesis (Mega Drive) Mini 2 microconsole. She was 58 years old.
Rieko Kodama began work in 1984 as a graphic designer at Sega, working on titles like Alex Kidd, Altered Beast, and Sonic the Hedgehog. She sometimes went by the pseudonym “Phoenix Rie.” She later became a director and producer, with a key hand in now-beloved Sega classics like Phantasy Star, Skies of Arcadia, and Magic Knight Rayearth. She also produced the 7th Dragon series and the Nintendo Switch-based Sega Ages retro collections. In 2019 the Game Developers Conference awarded Kodama its Pioneer Award in recognition of her achievements
.
Sega confirmed on October 27th that Rieko Kodama, a veteran developer at the company and a pioneering figure in the games industry, died in May 2022. The company had not shared news of her death at the time out of respect for the privacy of her family. Her death became public knowledge after people spotted a memorial tribute to Kodama in the staff credits of the newly-released Sega Genesis (Mega Drive) Mini 2 microconsole. She was 58 years old.
Rieko Kodama began work in 1984 as a graphic designer at Sega, working on titles like Alex Kidd, Altered Beast, and Sonic the Hedgehog. She sometimes went by the pseudonym “Phoenix Rie.” She later became a director and producer, with a key hand in now-beloved Sega classics like Phantasy Star, Skies of Arcadia, and Magic Knight Rayearth. She also produced the 7th Dragon series and the Nintendo Switch-based Sega Ages retro collections. In 2019 the Game Developers Conference awarded Kodama its Pioneer Award in recognition of her achievements
.
