Rez creator leaves Sega following studio merger

One of Sega's most innovative game creators has announced his decision to leave the company following the dissolving of his in-house development team.

Tetsuya Mizuguchi was the man behind cult classic titles such as Rez and Space Channel 5, both of which are considered to be sterling examples of innovation and creativity in modern gaming despite enjoying limited commercial success.

His internal team at Sega, United Game Artists, was a casualty of the recent development reshuffle at the company - with the team being broken up and the staff being merged with Sonic Team.

Mizuguchi-san now plans to pursue new opportunities in game development, and speaking to a Japanese radio station yesterday, he expressed relief at being free to explore new ideas following his 14 year tenure at Sega. Fans of Mizuguchi's innovative fusions of audio and graphics are bound to watch keenly to see what one of the greatest creative minds in the Japanese videogame industry does next.