Longtime Dragon Quest Producer Leaving Square Enix

gamerant.com:

Veteran Dragon Quest producer Ryutaro Ichimura has announced he will be leaving Square Enix after nearly 20 years working with the iconic JRPG developer. While not as widely recognized as its counterparts in Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts, the series with art by Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama has been a mainstay for Square Enix. The RPG franchise has seen 11 main-series entries and a multitude of spinoffs spanning all different genres, from monster tamers to Minecraft-inspired games and more. Now, one of its biggest producers is departing the franchise.

Ryutaro Ichimura's first credited appearance with Square Enix dates back nearly two decades as a producer for Dragon Quest 8: Journey of the Cursed King. Since his first appearance with the franchise, Ichimura has been a mainstay of Dragon Quest acting as a producer on nearly every main-series Dragon Quest game and several spinoffs. Most recently, Ichimura was chief producer for the upcoming Infinity Strash: Dragon Quest The Adventure of Dai, set for a worldwide release this Fall. Now, Ichimura has confirmed it would be his final project with Square Enix.

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Ichimura announced on Friday through his Twitter that he would be leaving Square Enix as of March 31st. The producer was grateful for his time with Square Enix after having worked for nearly two decades as a main figurehead on the Dragon Quest franchise. Ichimura confirmed he had already handed off Infinity Strash to his successor, though he did state he had «overseen it to near-completion» during his time at the studio. Despite his departure, Ichimura did express his continued interest in game development, intending to keep creating games after leaving Square Enix.

Ichimura