Longtime Mario developer Takashi Tezuka retiring as executive officer from Nintendo

According to Nintendo, Takashi Tezuka is retiring from his role as an executive officer. This little piece of news snuck in as part of the company’s financial results that were published today.

Right now it’s unclear what Tezuka’s role is going forward. Tezuka won’t be an executive officer, but we can’t say for sure if he’s retiring from Nintendo entirely.

Tezuka has been with Nintendo since 1984. Many attribute Shigeru Miyamoto as having created Mario, but Tezuka is right up there as one of the series’ most important developers. He has contributed to a number of other franchises and games including The Legend of Zelda, Animal Crossing, and Pikmin.

Nintendo also announced that a trio of directors are retiring. These include Takuya Yoshimura, Katsuhiro Umeyama, and Keiko Akashi. Yutaka Takenaga and Chika Saka are expected to become new directors, subject to shareholder approval. 

On the topic of Nintendo’s financial results, we have the breakdown of that here.