Rumor: Shigeru Miyamoto Will Step Down as Nintendo Restructures

Rumors and speculation have quickly spread around the gaming community which suggest that legendary game designer Shigeru Miyamoto will be stepping down from his role of being EAD General Manager and starting a new division with younger developers under him. Nintendo president Satoru Iwata is also speculated to be majorly restructuring the company’s headquarters as it prepares for the road ahead to remain the top gaming company on the planet.

This may seem as a shock with only one major question needing to be asked. Who is going to replace the great Miyamoto? You can find the answer to the that question plus even more rumored details about Nintendo’s restructuring after the jump!

Here are details which have emerged from a Neogaf user:

Satoru Iwata has big plans for Nintendo Company Limited in 2013. Iwata, who architectured the big restructure of 2002 where he dissolved the legendary Nintendo R&D1 and Nintendo R&D2 to strengthen Nintendo EAD and also create Nintendo SPD. Iwata has long admitted several deficits in the company he wanted to address, including expanding the network team of Nintendo, and initiating another huge rehaul of the software development division.

By December 2012, Iwata hopes to put place (sic) a new mysterious restructure of R&D which revolves around a new Kyoto R&D building hoping to exclusively house over 1200 developers. Previously, Nintendo has its R&D split between its main Central Building and its old Kyoto Research Institute Building. It is very unclear how the third R&D building will change the dynamic in Kyoto, but Iwata has mentioned wanting to support expansion as well as efficiency.

Additionally, Nintendo has continued to expand R&D operations in its Tokyo sector. Tokyo being the largest city of Japan by far, has created a window where several veteran developers from Square, SEGA, Koei, Epoch, and Konami can easily transition to join the EAD Tokyo development section.

But alongside all the expansion in Kyoto and Tokyo, comes the biggest news that Shigeru Miyamoto is expected to leave the EAD Division most likely by December 2012. Miyamoto has expressed concern that his presence is over shining all the new producers and directors creating content in the EAD Division (the largest of two gaming divisions at Nintendo). Miyamoto has vocalized his intent of stepping aside as General Manager of EAD to perhaps to create a third development sector where he would work with younger developers and focus on smaller resource, and faster to develop games.

2013 Expected Iwata Changes
+ Major shift in Kyoto development sources involving 3 R&D buildings
+ Shigeru Miyamoto stepping down as EAD General Manager
+ Takashi Tezuka becoming new EAD General Manager
+ New Groups / New Producers announced for EAD Kyoto / SPD Kyoto
+ EAD Tokyo Expansion / Masahiro Sakurai Possibly Joining EAD Tokyo
+ New Division lead by Miyamoto with younger staff focused on smaller scale games
+ Miyamoto’s Departure Inspiring New IPs for the EAD Kyoto Division

We should all be happy that Takashi Tezuka will be the perfect man for the role of EAD General Manager considering he has worked with Miyamoto since the beginning. Miyamoto will now be able to focus on IPs which is something he has been unable to really concentrate on for a while. The inclusion of Super Smash Bros and Kid Icarus: Uprising developer, Masahiro Sakurai, into EAD Tokyo would also be valuable as he has proven himself time and time again with the work he has created.

What do you think of Miyamoto’s role-changing? Are you happy to hear of Nintendo’s major restructuring? Is Takashi Tezuka the right man for the role of EAD General Manager? Let us know in the comments below!

Source: GenGAME