The video game industry has seen several high-profile retirements last year from Jim Ryan to Bobby Kotick. While many other pillars of the industry have thought of calling it a career, Super Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto doesn’t plan on retiring soon.
Miyamoto has been a part of the gaming industry since the 1970s and has been involved in some of the most legendary video game franchises in history. The game designer was instrumental in creating some of Nintendo’s most iconic titles such as Mario, The Legend of Zelda, Donkey Kong, and Pikmin. His video game franchises have sold over a billion copies since.
Despite working in the industry for over four decades, Miyamoto isn’t thinking about retirement. In a recent interview with The Guardian, the long-time game designer talks about retirement, saying that he has no desire to retire and thinks more of the day he dies. He is also considering who would succeed him in case something happens.
“More so than retiring, I’m thinking about the day I fall over,” Miyamoto said. “In this day and age you have to think about things in a five-year timespan, so I do think about who I can pass things on to, in case something does happen. I’m really thankful that there is so much energy around things that I have worked on. These are things that have already gone out into the world … they’ve been cultivated by others, other people have been raising them, helping them grow, so in that sense I don’t feel too much ownership over them any more.”
Miyamoto also hopes that he will be remembered as a creator of some of Nintendo’s most iconic games. He jokingly shares that he wants to continue working until a portrait of himself hangs at the entrance of Nintendo.
There is a scene in Iron Man where the president goes to his own company and the guard man doesn’t let him in, and he points at the portrait and says: ‘That’s me!'” Miyamoto shares. “But I really hope that the teams I work with, at least, remember me as the creator of these things!”
Miyamoto isn’t the only legendary game designer with no plans to quit. Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima recently said that his desire to create more games outweighs any temptation to retire. Bethesda’s Todd Howard also talked about his time in the industry and revealed that he will be sticking around at least until Elder Scrolls 6 is released, which is several years from now given the long development cycles at the studio.
It will be interesting to see what new games Nintendo and Miyamoto come up with in the next few years. We hope that the company will continue to expand its library with new titles and franchises. Perhaps one more big franchise before Miyamoto calls it a career?
