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Sega Artist, Director, Producer Rieko Kodama Passes Away at 59
posted on by Rafael Antonio Pineda
Sega producer Yōsuke Okunari confirmed on Thursday that long-time Sega artist, director, and producer Rieko Kodama has passed away. Former Sega game director Yuji Naka confirmed later that day that Kodama had passed away on May 9. She was 59.
Fans spotted a memorial to her in the recently-released Mega Drive Mini 2 console that shipped on Thursday, leading them to ask Okunari about whether she had passed away.
Kodama is perhaps best known for her work on Sega's Phantasy Star role-playing game series. She was an artist on the first two Phantasy Star games, and the director of Phantasy Star IV: The End of the Millennium, the fourth game in the series. She was also a director on the Magic Knight Rayearth Sega Saturn game. She was also a producer of the Skies of Arcadia RPG, and the 7th Dragon RPG series.
Her other design and art credits include Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Fantasy Zone II, Alex Kidd in Miracle World, and Altered Beast (Mega Drive version), among many others.
The 19th Annual Game Developers Choice Awards (GDCA) awarded Kodama with the Pioneer Award in 2019.
Photo via GDC
Sources: Yōsuke Okunari's Twitter account, Yuji Naka's Twitter account via Hachima Kikō
