Dragon Quest Builders Series Director Leaves Square Enix

Square Enix’s Dragon Quest Builders 2 has been a great success since launching in the West with worldwide shipments crossing 1.1 million units. Even with more updates to come, series director Kazuya Niinou has announced his departure from Square Enix. Niinou had been at the company for seven years and previously served as assistant director for Final Fantasy 14: A Realm Reborn.

In a recent tweet (translated by Gematsu), Niinou said, “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.”

The reason for his departure was revealed in a follow-up tweet, “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’s departure doesn’t mean that Dragon Quest Builders 2 will be directionless – he’ll serve as external staff for Square Enix and monitor its progress. More information on his own future plans will be revealed next week. In the meantime, Dragon Quest Builders 2’s final update will be coming this month that will essentially wrap up the story. It also contains new features like multiplayer save files, new hairstyles and much more.

Dragon Quest Builders 2 is currently available for PS4 and PC. Check out GamingBolt’s official review or this recent trailer which lists the game’s various accolades.

ご報告。ビルダーズ２の開発終了をもちまして、スクウェア・エニックス社を退職いたしました。吉田さん、ふじのりさん、白石さん、同僚のみんな、そして、自分の作ったゲームを楽しんでくださった皆さん、本当にありがとうございました！まずはお礼まで。

— 新納一哉 (@Nino_Kazuya) August 23, 2019

スクエニにはなんと７年間（自分歴最長！）在籍しました。ビルダーズ２でやや燃え尽きた感があるのと、スクエニと違うサイクルの開発をまたしてみたくなり、新しい開発環境に旅立つことにしました。

— 新納一哉 (@Nino_Kazuya) August 23, 2019

すでにやることはもう決めておりまして、あらためて、来週あたりにお話させていただければと思っています。これからもゲーム開発をがんばっていこうと思っていますので、どうぞ今後ともよろしくお願いいたします。

— 新納一哉 (@Nino_Kazuya) August 23, 2019

なお、ビルダーズ２に関してはまだ見守っていこうと思っており、スクエニと引き続き外部スタッフとしてお仕事する予定です。(DLCやアップデートとかはありませんよ…！)ちょこちょこ発言するかと思いますので、どうぞそちらもよろしくお願いいたします。

— 新納一哉 (@Nino_Kazuya) August 23, 2019