Shinji Hashimoto Announces Retirement From Square Enix
Shinji Hashimoto has officially announced his retirement from Square Enix. The former Final Fantasy brand manager and Square Enix executive officer made the announcement on Twitter earlier today.
"Good day, everyone. As of today 31 May, I am leaving my job due to entering retirement age," wrote Hashimoto. "I had worked with many people from various fields during my tenure. From here on, I'd like to support Square Enix as a fan. Thank you very much."
Related: Final Fantasy 14 Community Spotlight: Reks
Hashimoto’s retirement comes as no surprise. At last year’s Digital Fan Fest, Hashimoto announced he was stepping down as Final Fantasy brand manager and revealed his replacement, Yoshinori Kitase. For the past year, Hashimoto has served as a corporate advisor, essentially training his replacement pending his official retirement. Now at age 64, Hashimoto has plenty of time to spend on Final Fantasy 14.
For 27 years, Hashimoto has served as producer or executive producer for nearly every Final Fantasy game ever produced, with credits that include the likes of Final Fantasy 7 Remake, Neo: The World Ends With You, all three Kingdom Hearts, and The Last Remnant. Hashimoto has worked on over 100 games since joining Square Enix back in 1995 (when it was still just Squaresoft), and has served as Final Fantasy’s brand director for well over a decade. Hashimoto has also been in charge of 1st Production Department at Square Enix for as long as it’s been around. Enjoy your retirement, Mr. Hashimoto.
One of the many Final Fantasy games Hashimoto worked on was the Final Fantasy 10 HD remake, which makes him at least partially responsible for Blitzball and its recent introduction to Star Wars canon. In one of the recent Star Wars novels,
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