Kensuke Tanabe and Hideki Konno Leave Nintendo After Nearly 40 Years

After working with the mega-giant company for nearly four decades, Kensuke Tanabe and Hideki Konno have announced their departure from the company on the 21st and 24th of January respectively. Konno actually reportedly left the company on July of 2025 after the release of Mario Kart World, but news of his leaving have only just now started to uncover.

Tanabe is best known for his involvement in the Metroid Prime series since its first game in 2002, but he has been involved with the company for much longer. He developed the prototype for the game that would become Doki Doki Panic, which was then be imported to the US as the second Super Mario Bros. game. In fact, the first project for both men was Doki Doki Panic.

In an interview uploaded on Weibo prior to the Metroid Prime 4's release, Tanabe stated that Metroid Prime 4 would be his final game at Nintendo. Risa Tabata, who has also been with the franchise since the beginning, is expected to fill in Tanabe's place.

Note: The following quote is written in Simplified Chinese. What you are reading is that quote translated to English with Google Translate.

Quote From Kensuke Tanabe

Tanabe: It's been 40 years since I joined Nintendo. This *Metrode Ultimate 4* will be the last game I work on at Nintendo. However, we didn't deliberately do anything "special." Instead, like all previous Nintendo titles, we worked together with Retro Studios to create it, hoping to bring a fun and unique experience to players of all ages and types.

If it becomes a game that leaves a lasting impression on players who have played it, I will be very gratified. And for those who haven't played it yet, I hope you will experience the unknown planet Bros through Samus's eyes.

Hideki Konno is known best as the creator of the Mario Kart and Yoshi's Island franchises, and lead developer of the 3DS hardware. His last game that he directed was the original Luigi's Mansion in 2001, but he continued to remain an integral part of the company for years to come.

His departure was rather quite with no official word by himself on Nintendo when he departed. His retirement was discovered when his Facebook page had read that he had left the company on July 2025.

What do you think of these two men leaving the company after nearly four decades? Let us know in the comments below.