Legendary Nintendo Director, Producer Takashi Tezuka Retiring in June

After over four decades at Nintendo, legendary game developer Takashi Tezuka is stepping down as an Executive Officer next month, closely following the retirements of Nintendo veterans Hideki Konno and Kensuke Tanabe in the past year.

As part of the company’s recent fiscal reports, Nintendo released a list of executive personnel changes to take place on June 26th. Tezuka will be leaving his position then, along with three other board executives. Current reporting indicates that Tezuka, now at the traditional retirement age of 65, will fully retire from the company, although it’s possible that he will take on a smaller role instead.

Tezuka started at Nintendo in 1984 making Famicom games, arcade cabinet art, and playing cards. His first video game credit was for Devil World (1984) as an assistant director, working with the game’s lead designer Shigeru Miyamoto and composer Koji Kondo. This was the start of a longtime partnership, as the three closely worked together on many, many games since then. Tezuka worked as a director for some of Nintendo’s biggest hits in the Mario (Super Mario Bros., The Lost Levels, Super Mario World) and Zelda (The Legends of Zelda, Zelda II, and A Link to the Past) franchises, establishing them as core brands for the company.

After directing Super Mario 64, Tezuka moved into managerial roles for much of his career. He’s credited as a supervisor or producer in a plethora of games and franchises, including Star Fox 64, Paper Mario, Pikmin, Animal Crossing, Super Mario Maker, and ARMS, along with almost every title in the entire Zelda series. As of writing, his most recent credit is a producer for Meetup in Bellabel Park, a Switch 2 expansion for Super Mario Bros. Wonder. (which he also produced)

Takashi Tezuka has been one of Nintendo’s most prolific and influential developers, going all the way back to the company’s first forays in video games. From a part-timer who (by his own words) didn’t know what Pac-Man was, to an Executive Officer for the biggest name in gaming, he’s responsible for many of our favorite experiences in the last 42 years. We wish Tezuka-san a happy retirement, and thank him for sharing his work and achievements with the world!

What do you think of this announcement? Do you have a favorite game that Tezuka designed or directed? Let us know in the comments or in our Discord server!

Source: Nintendo (via Nintendo Life)

Cam Kettledragon

Cam Kettledragon is a Writer and Walkthrough Assistant at Omega Metroid.

When she’s not talking about Metroid, you’ll probably catch her talking about various other games or something really random she found on Wikipedia. She’s also a variety Twitch streamer, usually 100%ing whatever she’s been fixed on lately.