Yoshihisa Kishimoto, the legendary creator behind the Double Dragon and River City (Kuno-kun) franchises, has passed away at the age of 64. The sad news was confirmed by his son, Ryūbō Kishimoto, through various social media platforms.
On Facebook, Ryūbō wrote: "This is the son of Yoshihisa Kishimoto. I am sorry to inform you that my father has passed to rest on 04/02/2026... I hope you will continue to enjoy my father's works, including Kuno-kun. Thank you." In a subsequent post on Twitter/X, he added: "I'm sorry for not being able to reply, but thank you very much for the many heartfelt memory messages. 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."
Kishimoto was a prominent figure in the gaming industry, starting his career at Data East where he worked on laserdisc games before moving to Technōs with several colleagues. At Technōs, he gained fame for his contributions to numerous beat-em-up titles, most notably Double Dragon and the Kunio-kun series, known internationally as River City. His early creative inspiration stemmed from a personal breakup during his school years and Bruce Lee's martial arts films, such as Enter the Dragon. This led to the creation of Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun in 1986, released as Renegade outside Japan, which became the first game in the River City franchise. With his team at Technōs Japan, he developed many sequels for arcades and later for consoles like the NES, SNES, and PlayStation.
Kishimoto eventually departed from Technōs, expressing a desire to work on new projects beyond the same franchises and frustration over the studio's reduced investment in game development. In the following years, he worked independently under the name "Plophet," creating original works and consulting on other games. His most recent role was as director on Double Dragon IV in 2017, published by Arc System Works after it acquired the license from Technōs, and he also collaborated on more recent River City titles.
Ryūbō Kishimoto announced that a private funeral for his father will be held tomorrow.
