At the forefront of the RPG genre has always been presented to Square Enix as one of the leading companies. The Japanese developer has shaped renowned franchises like Final Fantasy or Kingdom Hearts for decades.
We can think of Yoshinori Kitase, Naoki Yoshida or Tetsuya Nomura as some of the most important profiles, but few stand out more than Shinji Hashimoto. The one who has been a fundamental piece for these sagas for years has announced that he is retiring from the industry after more than 30 years in it.
皆 様 お疲れ 様 です。 本 日 5月 31 日 （） を もちまして 定年 退職 ことになり まし た。 中 は 多 多 方面 の 皆々 様 方 々 に は は 大変 お 世話 に まし た。 これ から は 、 一 スクエニファン として 応援頂きたいと思います。本当にありがとうございました。 pic.twitter.com/yIj89uvh8x
— shinji hashimoto (@shinjihashimot3) May 31, 2022
Ladies and Gentlemen. Today, Tuesday May 31, I retire. I would like to thank all those who, in different fields, have supported me during my mandate. From now on, I would like to support you as a fan of Square Enix. Thanks a lot for your support.
Hashimoto’s career is really long. His career goes back to Mobile Suit Z Gundam: Hot Scramble 1986 for the Famicom with Game Studio, later moving on to executive producer and producer roles.
His arrival at Squaresoft took place in April 1994, where he immediately went on to co-produce the FrontMission original for the Super Famicom. Subsequently, his positions were transferred to being manager of final-fantasy since the seventh installment for more than a decade. He in turn acted as executive producer for the saga of Kingdom Hearts from birth.
Between the last projects that was involved we find the Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster and the returns of Legend of Mana and NieR Replicant, all of them during 2021.