The man behind some of the Switch's best music tracks, Yasuaki Iwata, has announced that he has left his role at Nintendo.
The composer took to Twitter to share that he actually stepped back from the position in July 2023, though this is the first time he has publicly acknowledged it.
In his message, Iwata expressed his "heartfelt gratitude" to everyone who has supported his work. He also confirmed that he has been working on several other projects over the past year, which he hopes to share "in the near future".
You'll find Yasuaki Iwata's full message and original tweet below:
I have a bit of a belated announcement to share.
In July of last year, I took a step in a new direction by leaving my position at Nintendo.
I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to everyone who supported me over the years, to those who enjoyed my work, and to everyone who listened to the music through the projects I was a part of.
I’ve been working on new projects since my departure, and I hope to have the opportunity to share some of these with you in the near future. If there are those who would like to continue following my journey, I’d be truly grateful, and I hope you look forward to what’s to come.
Thank you very much for your continued support!
Iwata started his tenure at Nintendo by working on the Super Mario 3D World soundtrack in 2013. With the release of the Switch in 2017, Iwata stepped up to the plate and contributed compositions for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, ARMS, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and even the now-iconic main theme for Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
As specified in the above message, this isn't the end of Iwata's work, though there's no guarantee that we'll hear the tracks on a Nintendo system. Nintendo Music may still be missing its composer credits, but we're off to blast the New Horizons theme for the rest of the day.