{"id":135787,"date":"2026-01-24T02:35:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-24T02:35:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/#article-196591"},"modified":"2026-01-24T02:35:00","modified_gmt":"2026-01-24T02:35:00","slug":"industry-veteran-hideki-konno-has-apparently-left-nintendo-after-four-decades","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/2026\/01\/24\/industry-veteran-hideki-konno-has-apparently-left-nintendo-after-four-decades\/","title":{"rendered":"Industry Veteran Hideki Konno Has Apparently Left Nintendo After Four Decades"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"Mario<\/a>
<\/span> Image: Nintendo<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Following the news of Kensuke Tanabe’s retirement<\/a> earlier this week, it’s now being reported game designer, director, producer, and Nintendo veteran Hideki Konno has also called time on his career at the Japanese firm.<\/p>\n

According to an update on his Facebook page, Konno seemingly left the company in July 2025, but the news of his departure and apparent retirement has only been discovered now. He was at Nintendo for around 40 years and started as a designer and assistant director on games such as Super Mario Bros. 2<\/a> and Super Mario Bros. 3<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Konno went on to direct multiple titles including Super Mario Kart<\/a>, Yoshi’s Island<\/a> and Mario Kart 64<\/a>. He went on to lead his own group at Nintendo EPD<\/a> and played a role in the creation of the 3DS as the producer.<\/p>\n

In more recent years, he acted as a producer on games like Mario Kart 8<\/a>, and helped run Nintendo’s mobile division<\/a>, working on titles such as Super Mario Run<\/a>, Fire Emblem Heroes<\/a> and Mario Kart Tour<\/a>. He also worked on the DLC for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe<\/a> for Switch and was recently given a “special thanks” credit in Mario Kart World<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Hideki<\/a>
<\/span> Image: Nintendo<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This news once again follows the news of Kensuke Tanabe’s reported retirement, who was known for his work on the Metroid Prime<\/a> series and many other Nintendo games throughout his career.<\/p>\n

In some other industry news this week, Nintendo of America’s new president and COO, Devin Pritchard, recently made her first public appearance<\/a>. And the former president of this branch, Doug Bowser, has joined the board of directors at Hasbro<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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