Game developer Yoshihisa Kishimoto passes away at 64

The talented developer created two fighting game franchises players love to this day.

Yoshihisa Kishimoto passed away on April 2, 2026, according to reports from IGN and other outlets. Among other projects, he is known for his years of work on the Double Dragon and Kunio-kun (River City) franchises at Technōs.

Kishimoto first received recognition for his work at Data East, where he directed Cobra Command and Road Blaster. While those games still have their fans, it wasn't until he moved to Technōs that Kishimoto truly came into his own and cemented his reputation.

At Technōs, Kishimoto created Renegade. It was the first game in the Kunio-kun series, which was localized in North America as the River City franchise. River City Ransom was an early NES hit that gamers of that era remember fondly to this day.

Perhaps Kishimoto is most famous for creating Double Dragon, which inspired several sequels and even a Hollywood movie that smart people pretend never existed. Published by Tradewest, Double Dragon was an early success on the NES, despite the home port not featuring multiplayer. That oversight was rectified for Double Dragon II, which Acclaim published.

Numerous Double Dragon games have been developed and published over the years. Kishimoto himself returned to direct the disappointing Double Dragon IV in 2017. His passing was initially announced on Facebook by his son, Ryūbō.

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Staff article by Jason Venter (April 06, 2026) Jason Venter has been playing games for 30 years, since discovering the Apple IIe version of Mario Bros. in his elementary school days. Now he writes about them, here at HonestGamers and also at other sites that agree to pay him for his words.