Aonuma Says Retirement is Not Too Far Off, Considering Successor

Eiji Aonuma has acted as the producer of 10 Zelda titles, the director of four Zelda titles, the designer for Ocarina of Time, and the supervisor for Hyrule Warriors and The Minish Cap. He’s had a hand in molding the Legend of Zelda series since OoT, and was a game system director for Majora’s Mask 3D. The community has always supported him.

Aonuma has participated in countless interviews, but most recently he appeared in a GameSpot interview to answer questions mostly based on Majora’s Mask 3D. In this interview, Aonuma, who turns 52 next month, reveals that he ponders about picking a successor almost daily, and says that retirement isn’t a long ways off for him.

Could Zelda U be the last Zelda related title he participates in? Will he continue to work on Zelda games, but play a smaller part in the development?

Here is an excerpt from the interview regarding his retirement:

My final question: you’ve been known as the caretaker of the Zelda franchise for such a long time. Have you wanted to branch out from that at all, or are you content with taking overseeing this franchise?

Honestly, I’m getting to the point in my career where I have to think about what sorts of things I want to do and how much time I have left before retirement. I’ve certainly enjoyed all the time that I’ve spent working on Zelda games, even when it’s a struggle, I’ve absolutely enjoyed it. But I’m probably not too far from retirement. I should start to think about a successor, someone who can take over all of this. That’s a very important decision, but that’s one of the things that is bouncing around in my head on a daily basis as I work.

Source: GameSpot