At Nintendo, everything is currently about the new Switch 2. At the same time, Nintendo is soon retiring its best developers, leading to unforeseen changes.
What does the retirement at Nintendo entail? In their podcast on YouTube, former hosts of the YouTube series Nintendo Minute, Kit Ellis and Krysta Yang, discussed the future of the company. While everything there currently revolves around the release of the Switch 2, the two former employees share their thoughts on a topic that is currently overshadowed by the release: retirement.
Several of the key developers at Nintendo whom we have known for about 40 years will likely leave the company and retire during this [Editor’s note: console] generation, assuming it lasts 7-8 years.
Kit Ellis on the podcast “The Switch 2 is Here and Everything is About to Change at Nintendo” via YouTube
In Japan, where Nintendo is headquartered, people usually retire at around 65 years of age (via Tradingeconomics.com). Many employees who were hired during the post-Tetris hype on the Gameboy and have long shaped the company will reach this age. This includes prominent figures.
The colleagues from GameStar are also watching the stream – here’s the link to the channel:
Change in Presentation
What could change as a result? Former host Kit Ellis points out that Shigeru Miyamoto, the creator of the Mario, Zelda, and Donkey Kong series, is already 72 years old. “Many people at Nintendo retire at 65. He obviously has reasons to stay, and they need him, and he obviously wants to continue working, but in eight years he will be 80 years old… and it’s going up.”
Many heads in Nintendo’s leadership are nearing retirement:
- Yoshio Sakamoto, creator of Metroid, is 65 years old
- Takashi Tezuka, right hand of the Mario creator, is 64 years old
- Nintendo composer Koji Kondo is 63 years old
- Eiji Aonuma, producer of Zelda, is 62 years old
- Kensuke Tanabe, producer of the Metroid Prime games, is 62 years old
- Nintendo’s head of planning and development, Shin’ya Takahashi, is 61 years old
Kit Ellis states: “I’m not saying that all these people will leave, but some of them probably will. So it’s an open question who will take on these important leadership roles, not just within the game franchises we know but simply within the company in general, there will be a natural cultural shift when new people take on these roles […]”.
His colleague Krysta Yang adds: “It will feel different when these people leave the company because you simply cannot replace them, […] You can teach the skills, but you cannot replace them as people. It will just feel different. That doesn’t mean the games will be bad, it will just feel different.”
Throughout the podcast, the former employees also discuss that the natural transition Nintendo will experience is not a bad thing. According to them, the transition will allow fresh perspectives as new people take on positions in the leadership. However, it is a moment where a lot can change within the company and its culture.
Until that time comes, however, Nintendo must first succeed in the release of the Switch 2. Leading up to the big release, we have already summarized all the rumors surrounding the console on MeinMMO: Nintendo Switch 2: Specifications and Performance – All Leaks and Rumors at a Glance
