After 40 years of bangers, legendary Mario Kart and Luigi's Mansion director seems to have left Nintendo

Hideki Konno, a longtime director and producer at Nintendo whose credits include Mario Kart, Yoshi's Island and Luigi's Mansion, apparently left the company last year after almost 40 years of service. He has not given a reason for his departure.

Konno announces his change of career on his personal Facebook page (thanks My Nintendo News,) in a post that simply says that he left his job at Nintendo in July 2025. No further details are given, and he hasn't announced if he is working at a new company, or intends to work somewhere in the future.

Konno's first job at Nintendo was working as assistant director and level designer on Super Mario Bros. 2, and shortly after doing the same work for Super Mario Bros. 3, and Super Mario World. He then went on to become the director of Super Mario Kart, Yoshi's Island, and Luigi's Mansion.

Over the last 20 years, Konno has worked as a producer on other major Nintendo titles such as Nintendogs and Mario Kart 8, and he was also a producer for the hardware launch of the Nintendo 3DS.

With such a long list of bangers under his belt, we'll surely miss Konno's work at Nintendo, particularly his 40-year reign as the guiding hand over the Mario Kart series. However, we wish him the best on whatever adventure he chooses next.

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