The World Ends With You series director Tatsuya Kando has left Square Enix
Tatsuya Kando announced via his own X account that he had left Square Enix at the end of May 2025. He was best known as the director of The World Ends With You series during his tenure in the company.
Kando noted that he had worked in the company for 29 years, which meant he had been there since 1996, from before Square had even merged with Enix in 2003. Other than the TWEWY series which had NEO: The World Ends With You released in 2021, he was also involved in the Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy series. Kando's latest known public appearance was in 2024, when he was interviewed for his involvement in providing TWEWY crossover content to FuRyu's Reynatis.
But even though Kando is no longer working at Square Enix, he promised in the tweets that he will still remain in the industry and continue creating content.
The original Japanese tweets are available to view right below:
ゲームを遊んでくださった皆さんの声がとても励みになり、日々の開発を前へと進める原動力になりました。
— 神藤 辰也 (@tatsuyakando) June 1, 2025
本当に感謝です！ありがとうございます！
今後も皆さんが笑顔になっていただけるよう、面白いコンテンツ作りを頑張っていこうと思っています！
And here are our translations of the tweets:
This is a personal matter, but I have resigned from Square Enix on May 31.
For the 29 years I was there, I got involved in a lot of projects like Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts, The World Ends With You etc etc etc... I was able to accumulate irreplacable experience.
The voices from everyone who have played the games became a massive encouragement and driving force to progress forward in the daily developments. I really appreciate those! Thank you!
I'd still like to do my best in creating interesting content that will make everyone smile from hereafter!