Yoshihisa Kishimoto, the pioneering designer behind beat-'em-up classics Double Dragon, Renegade, and River City, has died at age 64. His son announced the death, which occurred on April 2, 2026, with confirmations from Famitsu magazine and biographer Florent Gorges.
Kishimoto's son, Ryūbō, shared the news over the weekend via Facebook: “I am sorry to inform you that my father has passed to rest on 2nd April 2026. Thank you very much for everything you have done for me during my life.” Famitsu confirmed the passing, and biographer Florent Gorges expressed grief on social media: 'Je suis abattu en apprenant le décès soudain de mon ami Yoshihisa Kishimoto, l'un des game designers les plus incroyables de l'histoire du JV.' Ryūbō later followed up on X, thanking fans: “I'm sorry for not being able to reply, but thank you very much for the many heartfelt memory messages... Please continue to enjoy my father's works with a smile in the future.”
Kishimoto began his career in the early 1980s at Data East, directing laserdisc arcade games Cobra Command and Road Blaster. At Technos Japan, he directed 1986's Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun (Renegade in the West), inspired by a personal heartbreak and films like Bruce Lee's Enter the Dragon, blending isometric scrolling with street brawling against delinquents. This led to his breakthrough, 1987's Double Dragon, introducing two-player co-op as twin brothers Billy and Jimmy Lee fought post-apocalyptic gangs. It spawned major series including River City Ransom and numerous sequels, ports, and adaptations.
Other Technos titles under Kishimoto include Super Dodge Ball (1987), WWF WrestleFest (1991), and Double Dragon sequels before he left in the 1990s. Freelancing later, he directed Double Dragon IV (2017), served as creative consultant on River City Ransom: Underground (2017), produced River City Girls Zero (1994) for Super Famicom, and worked on 2019’s Stay Cool, Kobayashi-san!: A River City Ransom Story.
Kishimoto's innovations shaped beat-'em-ups like Streets of Rage and influenced fighting games like Street Fighter.
