Square Enix development veterans depart
Isamu Kamikokuryo leaves, Yoshinori Yamagishi to lead development of VR MMO for Monobit
Square Enix has lost two senior game makers.
Isamu Kamikokuryo was art supervisor and art director on most recent mainline Final Fantasy products, including Final Fantasy 10, Final Fantasy 12, Final Fantasy 13/13-2 and Final Fantasy 15. He has been at the company for 18 years and has announced he is stepping down via Twitter. Kamikokuryo says he is looking to take freelance art work going forwards.
He wrote (translated by Siliconera): "Yesterday, March 31, I resigned from Square Enix. It's been a little over 18 years since joining the company in 1999. It was a wonderful experience, from starting out as a concept artist for Final Fantasy X to Final Fantasy XV. I feel nothing but gratitude for the company that provided me with the opportunity to meet so many people and display my talent.
"Although I feel as if I left my heart behind, I want to move forward onto drawing new things. From here on, I'll do freelance art and diction work, and I'm thinking about reviving some writing activity as well. To all the staff, and to all the fans, thank you very much for supporting my drawings for such a long time."
Meanwhile, leading producer Yoshinori Yamagishi is leaving after more than two decades. He said on Twitter that he is considering "working on a new game for a different company." Yamagishi's credits include Star Ocean and Valkyrie Profile.
Siliconera translated his tweet as: "This may be sudden, but I, Yamagishi, have resigned from Square Enix on March 31. Therefore, I'm retiring my role as Valkyrie Anatomia's producer! I'm thinking about working on a new game with a different company, so I hope to have your support when the time comes. As for the announcement being on April 1st... I'll let you decide to believe this or not."
Update: Yoshinori Yamagishi has joined Monobit to lead its virtual reality games division. According to Gematsu, which translated an article on the Japanese website 4Gamer, Yamagishi's first project will be the first MMO to be made in Japan for VR.