“I, [Ryota] Aomi, have left Square Enix,” Aomi said in a message. “I apologize to everyone for this sudden announcement.”

He continued, “I’ve been at Square Enix for 13 years, and have worked on Dragon Quest for 16 years including the development period at my last job. [Working on] Dragon Quest was a dream of mine since elementary school. Every day was truly another tale.”

Before he was officially hired by Square Enix in 2013, Aomi worked at Genius Sonority, where he was a planner on Dragon Quest Swords: The Masked Queen and the Tower of Mirrors.

“I’ve now begun a ‘new adventure‘ at the next company,” Aomi said. “I’d like to tell you all about where I’m at and what I’m doing, so please wait just a little longer.”

Before closing out his message, Aomi expressed a heartfelt thanks to Dragon Quest series creator Yuji Horii, character designer Akira Toriyama, and late composer Koichi Sugiyama.