Masaya Nakamura, founder of Namco, the reputable gaming company that created Pac-Man, has died at the age of 91.

It is being reported that Nakamura passed on January 22, but Namco chose to wait and reveal the news today via their website.

After attending a technical university in Yokohama, Nakamura founded Namco in 1955, initially as a company operating mechanical horses on the roof of a department store. Decades later in 2005, Namco merged with another Japanese gaming firm, Bandai, to form Namco-Bandai, later known as Bandai Namco.

Pac-Man was ultimately invented by Toru Iwatani and then went on sale in 1981.