Dragon Quest Builders director Kazuya Niinou leaves Square Enix

Announced today on his official Twitter account, Dragon Quest Builders series director Kazuya Niinou revealed in a thread that he has left Square Enix now that development on Dragon Quest Builders 2 has concluded. Although he is leaving the company, Niinou mentioned he would still assist Square Enix externally and work with them when needed.

Below is the Twitter thread, roughly translated:

“With development for Dragon Quest Builders 2 completed, I have left Square Enix. I would like to thank Naoki Yoshida, Noriyoshi Fujimoto, Takuma Shiraishi, all of my colleagues and everyone who enjoyed the games I made! Thank you all! 

I have been at Square Enix for 7 years (That’s a long time!). I felt a little burnt out after finishing Builders 2 and wanted to try a development cycle different from Square Enix. So I decided to leave for a new development environment. My plans for the future have already been decided, and I want to talk about this decision more next week. I also want to do my best in game development, so please look forward to it.

In addition, I am still planning to watch over Builders 2 and will continue to work with Square Enix as external staff. (There is no DLC or content update…!) I’d like to also speak a little bit more on this as well sometime. Speaking of Builders, I received a lot of guidance from Yuji Horii and was able to learn a lot. I will cherish this experience and use it for future game development.”

Aside from the Dragon Quest Builders series, Kazuya Niinou has also provided his skills for titles such as Final Fantasy XIV A Realm Reborn, Trauma Center: Under the Knife, Etrian Odyssey and more.

Sources: Twitter, Gematsu


About the Author

Raptorchan Raptorchan joined the Nova Crystallis team in 2017 after discovering her passion for writing and gaming journalism. She is not only an avid Square Enix fan, but also a cosplayer who loves collecting figurines, playing RPGs and making videos.

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