Final Fantasy‘s veteran brand manager Shinji Hashimoto has announced his retirement from the role. He’ll still be at Square Enix, but will be passing the torch on to Final Fantasy VI, VII, and VIII director Yoshinori Kitase.
Over on Twitter, Hashimoto released the following statement for fans:
Thank you everyone for the many, many warm messages regarding my personnel update!
I would have loved to have made my greetings to everyone around the world in person, but unfortunately was not able to do so due to the pandemic. So I’d like to apologize that I had to share this update via a livestream, instead of in-person with you all!
From now on, I’d love to continue to support all the teams from behind the scenes, and would humbly ask for your continued support. Though I have passed on the baton as the Final Fantasy brand manager, I am going to continue to do my best at Square Enix.
Hashimoto joined Square Enix in 1995 and has been working on Final Fantasy series since 1997.
Singing Hashimoto’s praises, Final Fantasy XIV director Naoki Yoshida recalled how he was put in charge of the MMORPG at a “very difficult time” and how Hashimoto helped him out.
“Mr. Hashimoto introduced me to various people and backed me up behind the scenes,” he said. “FFXIV is what it is today because of the support we received back then… Thank you for the Final Fantasy series so far, but please continue to support us in the future.”
[Source: VGC]
