Ex Nintendo PR managers say the Switch 2 generation is liable to ogle the retirement of “several of the predominant developers at Nintendo who we have identified for 40 one thing years”

A duo of previous Nintendo marketing executives anticipate that the Switch 2 era will usher in a significant transformation in the leading creative minds behind the company’s most beloved franchises.

During a recent episode of their Gear & Krysta podcast, former Nintendo Minute presenters Gear Ellis and Krysta Yang discuss why “everything is about to undergo a transformation at Nintendo.” Although the arrival of a new console generation is typically sufficient to alter many aspects dramatically, what the duo is sometimes hinting at is sadly significant.

Folks, I’m going to get right to the point: one of the key long-time figures at Nintendo is advancing in age, and with console generations generally lasting around 7-8 years nowadays, there’s a growing possibility that many of them may not be with the company for the Switch 3, or whatever the next iteration ends up being.

“Several of the primary developers at Nintendo whom we have known for over 40 years are likely to retire from the company during this generation, assuming it lasts 7-8 years,” predicts Ellis, who then proceeds to run through a list of some of the most influential Nintendo developers and their respective ages.

Ellis notes that Shigeru Miyamoto, the mind behind the Mario, Zelda, and Donkey Kong franchises, is currently 72 years old. “Many individuals at Nintendo retire at 65. He clearly has reasons to remain, and they need him, and he certainly wishes to continue working, but in eight years, he will be 80 years old… aging significantly.”

Ouch.

Yoshio Sakamoto, known for the Metroid series, is now 65. “He is right at that age,” states Ellis, adding that Miyamoto’s longstanding collaborator Takashi Tezuka is 64. Furthermore, the legendary Nintendo composer Koji Kondo is 63, as the hosts highlight. Eiji Aonuma, the producer for the Zelda series, is 62; Kensuke Tanabe, the Metroid Prime series producer, is also 62, and Shin’ya Takahashi, Nintendo’s head of planning and development, is 61.

“I’m not suggesting that all of these individuals will be gone, but a certain number of them likely will be, so it’s an open question of who will fill these crucial leadership positions, not just within the gaming franchises that we recognize, but also within the company as a whole,”