Legendary video game developer Yoshihisa Kishimoto, widely known and regarded as the “Godfather” of the beat’em up genre, has passed away at the age of 64. Kishimoto was primarily known for his involvement with Technos Japan Corp. and was the original creator of River City and Double Dragon.
The news of Yoshihsa’s passing was confirmed by his son Ryūbō Kishimoto. On social media, Ryūbō said “I am the son of Yoshihisa Kishimoto, director of the passionate, hardcore Kunio-Kun series. I am writing to inform you that my father passed away on April 2, 2026. lease feel free to contact me anytime if you need to confirm details or anything else. Thank you so much for sharing so much information over the years for the Kunio-kun fans. We appreciate your continued support moving forward.”
“I’m sorry for not being able to reply, but thank you very much for the many heartfelt memory messages,” Kishimoto’s son wrote in a follow-up message translated on X. “I’m truly delighted to learn that there are people around the world who have played the Kunio-kun series extensively and understand my father even more deeply than I do. Please continue to enjoy my father’s works with a smile in the future.”
Yoshihisa Kishimoto began his video game career in the early 1980s at Data East, working on the arcade laserdisc video games Cobra Command, also known as Thunder Storm, and Road Blaster. Following his work at Data East, Kishimoto went to Technos Japan Corp. While at Technos, he developed Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun, known as Renegade in the West, and Double Dragon. Both titles help establish the side-scrolling beat-’em-up genre.
In the 1990s, Kishimoto worked as a freelance game designer and producer and helped release The Dungeon RPG for PlayStation and Rogue: Hearts Dungeon for the PlayStation 2. Most recently, Kishimoto was a director for Double Dragon IV. The game was published by Arc System Works after acquiring the license from Technōs. He also collaborated and consulted on the most recent River City games.