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Doug Bowser set to retire as Nintendo of America at the end of the year just six months after the launch of the Switch 2

We'll miss Bowser, mainly because he's always been cool with the obvious jokes about his name

Bowser And Doug Bowser During Nintendo Direct 2019 — Image credit: Nintendo

News by Trent Cannon, Senior Contributing writer

Published on Fri Sep 26 2025

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The end of an era is upon us. Doug Bowser – no relation to the King of the Koopas – is retiring from Nintendo of America at the end of the year. For the past ten years, Bowser – again, the man rather than the character – has been on the leadership team of Nintendo and has been president of Nintendo of America since 2019.

The announcement comes just a few months after the launch of the Switch 2, which has broken sales records around the world. It is the second console launch that Bowser has been a part of at Nintendo. He was on the executive team during the launch of the Switch in 2017. Following that, he succeeded the popular and heavily memed Reggie Fils-Aimé in 2019, which meant that he led Nintendo of America through the COVID-19 lockdowns and helped the Switch achieve its status as one of the most successful consoles of all time.

Bowser is succeeded by Devon Pritchard as president. In another shuffle, Nintendo’s Managing Executive Officer and Corporate Director, Satoru Shibata, is joining Nintendo of America as CEO in addition to his existing duties with the Japanese branch of the company. The change comes at a time when Nintendo is looking to solidify the early success of the Switch 2 console and as the company is gearing up its entertainment departments. Both a live-action Legend of Zelda movie and a sequel to The Super Mario Bros. Movie are in the works.

“One of my earliest video game experiences was playing the arcade version of Donkey Kong,” said Bowser in a press release announcing his retirement. “Since that time, all things Nintendo have continued to be a passion for both me and my family. Leading Nintendo of America has been the honor of a lifetime, and I am proud of what our team has accomplished in both business results and the experiences we’ve created for consumers.”

We’ll miss Doug Bowser’s time at Nintendo, not just for the many games he helped release for two very successful consoles, but because he has been one of the greatest examples of nominative determinism we’ve ever seen. The jokes have written themselves over the years, and we’re left with just one final one for the road:

At long last, Bowser is leaving the Mushroom Kingdom for good.

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