Long-time Square-Enix producer Shinji Hashimoto - known for his work on the Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts franchises - has announced his formal retirement from the company via a Twitter post.
Translated, the tweet reads:
Thank you everyone. I will retire on May 31st (Tuesday) today. During my tenure, I am very grateful to all of you in various fields. From now on, I would like to support you as a SQUARE ENIX fan. I'm really thankful to you.
Hashimoto's career with Square-Enix extends all the way back to 1995, spanning some of the company's most iconic and successful games. As reported by RPG Site, he is often credited for quietly spawning the Kingdom Hearts franchise, having conspired with a Disney executive to bring the two companies together on a project whilst sharing an office building in Tokyo. He would subsequently go on to work on the entire franchise as either a producer or executive producer.
Some of Hashimoto's other credits include producer roles on Final Fantasy VIII, Final Fantasy IX, and The World Ends With You. He went on to serve as executive producer for the latter's sequel, Neo: The World Ends With You, a role that would prove to be one of his final contributions to the company.
Here at Nintendo Life, we wholeheartedly thank Hashimoto for the work he's put out over the years with Square-Enix and wish him all the best for his retirement years.
Share your thoughts on Hashimoto's retirement in the comments below!
[source twitter.com, via rpgsite.net]
Comments 7
Happy retirement Mr Hashimoto! Thanks for your hard work!
Enjoy retirement! Thanks for the memories made from all the games.
The best of luck to him and wishing him the very best in his future endeavours.
Probably for the best for him. I'd imagine it's hard to create masterpieces like FF9 working for modern SquareEnix and their focus on GaaS and mobile games.
Another legend from the Golden era retires. Time moves too fast, and you can never go back.
This isn't good for Squenix's future, IMO. 64 years old seems young to retire from something u love...in the US anyways.
@twztid13 Getting full benefits is on the older side of 66 in the US, so if you can afford it, 64 is hardly any different. Japan is 70 now, from what I've read, though it was only 65 last year if I'm to believe Google. Who knows, maybe he has family obligations that are more important.
Anyway, thank you for the memories, Hashimoto-san.
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