{"id":1925157,"date":"2026-05-08T15:03:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-08T12:03:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1925157"},"modified":"2026-05-08T15:03:00","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T12:03:00","slug":"legendary-zelda-director-and-nintendo-designer-legend-takashi-tezuka-is-retiring-after-more-than-40-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1925157","title":{"rendered":"Legendary Zelda director and Nintendo designer legend Takashi Tezuka is retiring after more than 40 years"},"content":{"rendered":"<article class=\"article \" data-ads=\"true\" data-article-type=\"news\" data-article-group=\"news\" data-paywalled=\"false\" data-premium=\"false\" data-sponsored=\"false\" data-type=\"article\">\n<header class=\"article_header\" data-component=\"article-header\">\n<div class=\"breadcrumbs\">\n<nav class=\"nav_breadcrumbs\" data-component=\"nav-breadcrumbs\" aria-label=\"Breadcrumb\">\n<ul class=\"nav-links\">\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      Home<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/news\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      News<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/nav><\/div>\n<div class=\"headline_details\" id=\"main-content\">\n<h1 class=\"title\">Legendary Zelda director and Nintendo designer legend Takashi Tezuka is retiring after more than 40 years<\/h1>\n<p class=\"strapline\">Also worked on Mario, Yoshi and more.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"headline_asset\">\n<figure class=\"headline_image_wrapper\">\n<p>        <img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"headline_image\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/Takashi-Tezuka-sits-on-a-sofa-with-Nintendo-Switch-cushions-either-side-of-him.webp?width=570&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;dpr=3&amp;auto=webp\" alt=\"Takashi Tezuka sits on a sofa with Nintendo Switch cushions either side of him\" loading=\"eager\" data-uri=\"Takashi-Tezuka-sits-on-a-sofa-with-Nintendo-Switch-cushions-either-side-of-him.webp\" data-lightbox width=\"570\" height=\"324\"><figcaption>\n          <span class=\"attribution\">Image credit: <cite>Nintendo<\/cite><\/span><br \/>\n        <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"metadata\">\n<div class=\"avatar\">\n<p>    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Victoria Phillips Kennedy avatar\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/1644925423.jpg?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"180\" height=\"179\"><\/p>\n<p>  <img alt=\"Victoria Phillips Kennedy avatar\" data-autosize=\"crop_lossy\" data-uri=\"1644925423.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"180\" height=\"179\">\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text\">\n<div class=\"byline\">\n                  <span class=\"article_type\" data-slug=\"news\"><br \/>\n                    News<br \/>\n                  <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"by\">by<\/span> <span class=\"author\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/authors\/victoria-kennedy\">Victoria Phillips Kennedy<\/a><\/span>                    <span class=\"job_title\"><br \/>\n                      News Reporter<br \/>\n                    <\/span>\n            <\/div>\n<div class=\"published_at\">\nPublished on <time datetime=\"2026-05-08T15:03:00+00:00\">May 8, 2026<\/time>              <\/div>\n<div class=\"comments\">\n      <a class=\"comments__link comments-bubble\" href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/takashi-tezuka-nintendo-retiring?view=comments\" rel=\"nofollow\"><br \/>\n          2 comments<br \/>\n      <\/a>\n    <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"article_body\" data-component=\"article-content\">\n<div class=\"article_body_content article-styling\">\n<p>Veteran Nintendo designer and director Takashi Tezuka is retiring from the company after more than 40 years.<\/p>\n<p>Tezuka joined Nintendo as a part-time employee when he was at university in 1984. He went on to become an assistant director for the original 1985 Super Mario Bros, a game he was also a designer on.<\/p>\n<figure>\n<div class=\"primis_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"primis_video\">\n<p><span class=\"embed_placeholder\" data-type=\"targeting\"><br \/>\n<span class=\"message\">To see this content please enable targeting cookies.<\/span><br \/>\n<button class=\"optanon-show-settings link\"><br \/>\nManage cookie settings<\/button><\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption>Nintendo Switch 2 &#8211; Official Launch Trailer. <a class=\"video\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=g4kArg6-hGo\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Watch on YouTube<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>In the years since, he has worked on a huge number of the company&#8217;s most high-profile and beloved titles. Think of any Nintendo series andTezuka will likely have had some part in it. During his tenure, he directed multiple games from iconic series, including the original Legend of Zelda, Super Mario World, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/r-zelda3-gba\">The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past<\/a> and Yoshi&#8217;s Island.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"injection_placeholder\" data-position=\"1\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>More recently, he has served as a producer or production supervisor on games such as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/super-mario-bros-wonder\">Super Mario Bros. Wonder<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/super-mario-3d-world\">Super Mario 3D World<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/zelda-breath-of-the-wild-walkthrough-guide-tips-4857\">The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild<\/a>, and has also had a hand in the Animal Crossing and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/pikmin\">Pikmin<\/a> franchises.<\/p>\n<p>Today, as part of its latest financial report, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nintendo.co.jp\/ir\/pdf\/2026\/260508_3e.pdf\">Nintendo confirmed<\/a> Tezuka will retire from his role as an executive officer on 26th June. He will be 65, the typical age of retirement for Nintendo employees (a notable exception to this is Nintendo&#8217;s Shigeru Miyamoto, who is in his 70s). Tezuka and Miyamoto frequently collaborated on projects together.<\/p>\n<p>As well as Tezuka, three other Nintendo directors will also be retiring in the coming months: Katsuhiro Umeyama, Keiko Akashi and Takuya Yoshimura.<\/p>\n<p>Elsewhere in today&#8217;s financials, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/nintendo-switch-2-price-increase-may-2025\">Nintendo announced a price rise for its Switch 2 console in the US, Canada, Japan and Europe<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"preferred-source\" data-component=\"preferred-source\">\nLove Eurogamer.net? Make us a <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\">Preferred Source on Google<\/a> and catch more of our coverage in your feeds.  <\/div>\n<\/article>\n<div class=\"article_body\" data-component=\"article-content\">\n<div class=\"article_body_content article-styling\">\n<p>Veteran Nintendo designer and director Takashi Tezuka is retiring from the company after more than 40 years.<\/p>\n<p>Tezuka joined Nintendo as a part-time employee when he was at university in 1984. He went on to become an assistant director for the original 1985 Super Mario Bros, a game he was also a designer on.<\/p>\n<figure>\n<div class=\"primis_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"primis_video\">\n<p><span class=\"embed_placeholder\" data-type=\"targeting\"><br \/>\n<span class=\"message\">To see this content please enable targeting cookies.<\/span><br \/>\n<button class=\"optanon-show-settings link\"><br \/>\nManage cookie settings<\/button><\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption>Nintendo Switch 2 &#8211; Official Launch Trailer. <a class=\"video\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=g4kArg6-hGo\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Watch on YouTube<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>In the years since, he has worked on a huge number of the company&#8217;s most high-profile and beloved titles. Think of any Nintendo series andTezuka will likely have had some part in it. During his tenure, he directed multiple games from iconic series, including the original Legend of Zelda, Super Mario World, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/r-zelda3-gba\">The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past<\/a> and Yoshi&#8217;s Island.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"injection_placeholder\" data-position=\"1\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>More recently, he has served as a producer or production supervisor on games such as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/super-mario-bros-wonder\">Super Mario Bros. Wonder<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/super-mario-3d-world\">Super Mario 3D World<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/zelda-breath-of-the-wild-walkthrough-guide-tips-4857\">The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild<\/a>, and has also had a hand in the Animal Crossing and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/pikmin\">Pikmin<\/a> franchises.<\/p>\n<p>Today, as part of its latest financial report, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nintendo.co.jp\/ir\/pdf\/2026\/260508_3e.pdf\">Nintendo confirmed<\/a> Tezuka will retire from his role as an executive officer on 26th June. He will be 65, the typical age of retirement for Nintendo employees (a notable exception to this is Nintendo&#8217;s Shigeru Miyamoto, who is in his 70s). Tezuka and Miyamoto frequently collaborated on projects together.<\/p>\n<p>As well as Tezuka, three other Nintendo directors will also be retiring in the coming months: Katsuhiro Umeyama, Keiko Akashi and Takuya Yoshimura.<\/p>\n<p>Elsewhere in today&#8217;s financials, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/nintendo-switch-2-price-increase-may-2025\">Nintendo announced a price rise for its Switch 2 console in the US, Canada, Japan and Europe<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Home News Legendary Zelda director and Nintendo designer legend Takashi Tezuka is retiring after more than 40 years Also worked on Mario, Yoshi and more. Image credit: Nintendo News by Victoria Phillips Kennedy News Reporter Published on May 8, 2026 2 comments Veteran Nintendo designer and director Takashi Tezuka is retiring from the company after [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,253],"class_list":["post-1925157","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-eurogamer-net"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1925157","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1925157"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1925157\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1925157"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1925157"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1925157"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}