Dragon Quest Builders series director Kazuya Niinou leaves Square Enix

Dragon Quest Builders series director Kazuya Niinou has left Square Enix, the developer announced.

“An announcement,” Niinou said in a tweet. “With development on Builders 2 completed, I have left Square Enix. To Naoki Yoshida, Noriyoshi Fujimoto, Takuma Shiraishi, all of my colleagues, and everyone who enjoyed the games I made, thank you so much! I truly appreciate your support.”

He continued, “I have been at Square Enix for about seven years now (my longest yet!). I felt a little burned out with Builders 2 and wanted to try out a development cycle different from Square Enix, so I set out for a new development environment.”

Niinou mentioned that his plans for the future are already decided, and that he will share more information next week. Additionally, he will continue to watch over Dragon Quest 2 and work as external staff for Square Enix. However, that does not mean there will be any additional downloadable content or updates.

Niinou is previously known for his work as director of Trauma Center: Under the Knife and designer of Etrian Odyssey at Atlus, and director of 7th Dragon at Imageepoch. Upon entering Square Enix, he worked as assistant director on Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, before becoming the director of the Dragon Quest-themed sandbox RPG Dragon Quest Builders and its sequel DRagon Quest Builders 2.

Thanks, Games Talk.