Shinji Hashimoto announced that he was retiring from Square Enix on his personal Twitter, with his last day being May 31, 2022. Hashimoto became the brand manager for the Final Fantasy series with Final Fantasy 7.
He managed the promotional campaign for Final Fantasy 7 and helped it become one of the greatest RPGs. Final Fantasy 7 has many spin-offs and sequels in games and other media.
And Hashimoto has worked on all of them in some capacity. Hashimoto is also the co-creator of the Kingdom Hearts franchise.
This happened due to a chance meeting with Hashimoto and a Disney executive in an elevator when Square Enix and Disney Japan were sharing a building.
Who is Shinji Hashimoto?
Shinji Hashimoto is a former game producer at Square Enix. He was also an Executive Officer on Square Enix’s board of directors and the Head of Square Enix’s Business Division 3 for six years.
In addition, he served as a corporate executive of the 1st Production Department for its entire existence. In May 2021, Hashimoto began working in Square Enix Holdings as a Corporate Adviser to train the next generation of leaders in the company.
Hashimoto previously worked at the toy company Bandai and joined Squaresoft in 1995, and stayed after it became, Square Enix. While working on Final Fantasy 13, Hashimoto stated that Square Enix was attempting to match their Japan game releases closer to the rest of the world.
Hashimoto has also worked on familiar titles like Dragonball and Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure video games and much more for the Super Famicom and the PlayStation era.
In short, Shinji Hashimoto is a titan in video games and anime. He leaves behind a vast legacy, but he says he’ll continue to enjoy Square Enix games in his Tweet.
What happens now?
Now we let Hashimoto get his game on and continue to enjoy the future together. Square Enix will continue to make more Final Fantasy games and Kingdom Hearts.
Hashimoto’s Tweet, as well as Square Enix, shows this is a positive thing for everyone. Of course, it’s sad to see this beloved creator step out of an active role, but it’s not like we’ll never see him again.
Hashimoto may still attend events and has stated that he’ll take pictures with anyone, especially if you’re cosplaying as Cloud Strife or Squall Leonhart, as those are his favorite characters.