Zelda Series Producer Explains How His Role Has Changed Over the Years
Posted on June 18 2019 by Rod Lloyd
Last week was huge for the Zelda franchise. Cadence of Hyrule was finally released, fans received an extended look at Link’s Awakening for Switch, and the surprise announcement of a Breath of the Wild sequel set the internet on fire. The Legend of Zelda is perhaps bigger than ever, and the great minds behind the series no doubt have their work cur out for them. Zelda series producer Eiji Aonuma recently sat down with Game Informer to explain how his own workload has changed over the years and share about his relationship with series creator Shigeru Miyamoto.
Eiji Aonuma’s relationship with The Legend of Zelda began in 1998, as he served as the director of Ocarina of Time. After directing several successful follow-ups, he assumed the role of lead producer and, for all intents and purposes, the face of the entire Zelda franchise. And just recently, Aonuma was promoted to a deputy general manager position within Nintendo.
Reflecting on his two decades’ worth of experience working on the series, Aonuma explained how his own workload has changed:
“One thing that definitely has changed is that in the beginning, I had to create a bunch of things on my own, but now I have a great team with great people with different skills to help me create things together.”
Aonuma was then asked about collaborating with Zelda creator Shigeru Miyamoto:
“It’s very interesting that you bring up Mr. Miyamoto. I’ve never thought of it as collaborating with him! Now that you’ve phrased it that way, I think, ‘Oh, working with Mr. Miyamoto is a collaboration.’ That’s kind of exciting!”
While Eiji Aonuma has taken a more managerial role for recent Zelda titles — Hidemaro Fujibayashi has directed the last several home-console games — his influence on the series cannot be overstated. I’m confident that he will always have a guiding hand on The Legend of Zelda games, just as Shigeru Miyamoto has done over the years.
Do you appreciate Eiji Aonuma’s willingness to let the next generation take the reigns of the Zelda series? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
Source: Game Informer (via Go Nintendo)
Rod Lloyd is the Editor-In-Chief at Zelda Dungeon, overseeing the news and feature content for the site. Rod is considered the veteran of the writing team, having started writing for Zelda Informer in 2014 as a Junior Editor. After ZD and ZI officially merged in 2017, he stepped into the Managing Editor role and has helped steer the ship ever since. He stepped up to lead the writing team as Editor-In-Chief in 2023.
You can reach Rod at: rod.lloyd@zeldadungeon.net
