Dragon Quest chief producer has left Square Enix, but "would like to continue making games"

Ryutaro Ichimura, one of the lead producers on Square Enix's Dragon Quest team, is leaving the studio to pursue a more "high-risk environment".

He has made the heartfelt announcement on Twitter, citing that his great love for Dragon Quest is what brought him to Final Fantasy 16 studio Square Enix around 22 years ago in the first place. 

"Motivation for applying: because I like Dragon Quest," Ichimura shares in our translation of his tweet, lifting his own words from a resumé he found among his office affairs while sorting through them. "Born in the year of the dragon, joined the company in the year of the dragon, was assigned to Dragon Quest department, and became a Dragon Quest producer; it felt like something destined."

"Square Enix presents a big opportunity and has given me a lot of challenges. I can only thank you [from the bottom of my heart]," he writes, going on to thank his colleagues at Armor Project, Bird Studio, Sugiyama Kobo, and the players themselves. 

"It took a lot of courage to leave such a wonderful place, but this is the conclusion I have come to. I am 47 years old this year, and I am starting to count down how many more games I'll be able to make in my lifetime. Now it takes three or four years to make one, so in order to die without regrets, I have to think carefully about each one," Ichimura says, stating that he would "like to leave this blessed environment and push [himself] into a high-risk environment to find out what comes out of it."

Although he officially left Square Enix on March 31, Ichimura wraps up the announcement by assuring us that he would like to continue making games – even if "Dragon Quest, for me, ends here."

For more from Square Enix, check out our list of the best JRPGs to play right now.