Tatsuya Kando has worked at the company for 29 years in various roles. His most recent title, NEO: The World Ends with You, launched in 2021.

The Worlds End with You director Tatsuya Kando has announced his departure from Square Enix. He worked on every title in the series, including the latest entry, NEO: The World Ends with You, and also as animation supervisor on Kingdom Hearts 1-3, among other responsibilities for 29 years.

On Twitter, Kando said, “This is a personal matter, but as of May 31, I have left Square Enix. Over the past 29 years, I’ve had the opportunity to work on many projects, including Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts, and The World Ends with You, and the experiences I’ve gained are irreplaceable.

“The support from everyone who played the games has been incredibly encouraging, and it served as a driving force that pushed me forward in development every day. I’m deeply grateful. Thank you so much!

“Going forward, I will continue doing my best to create enjoyable content that brings smiles to everyone’s faces.” It’s unknown whether Kando will continue his career in another company, so stay tuned for further updates.

NEO: The World Ends with You launched in July 2021 for PS4 and Nintendo Switch, followed by PC in September 2021. Despite solid critical acclaim, Square Enix revealed that the action RPG had performed lower than “initial expectations.”

The franchise has been on ice ever since with no indication of follow-ups. You can read our review – we rated it an eight out of ten, praising the writing, art direction, soundtrack and combat system. However, the technical issues on Switch and the poor pacing of some segments impacted our enjoyment.