Earlier in the week, Vagrant Story and Final Fantasy Tactics creator, Yasumi Matsuno, announced that he has parted ways with Level 5, the company he joined in June 2011. Level 5 are behind the Professor Layton games and the only title Matsuno worked on for them is a Nintendo eShop RPG for the 3DS, titled Crimson Shroud.
Years prior to joining Level 5, Matsuno was employed at Square Enix, but left the company during the development of Final Fantasy XII, of which he was the director.
At the time, a statement released by Square Enix said that Matsuno had left due to health concerns, as he had been ill for some time. Just what was wrong with Matsuno was never publicly shared, and his roles on the project were spread across various other Square Enix employees.
This week, Matsuno stated over Twitter: “I’d like to formally announce my departure from Level-5, effective last month. With my work done on the domestic and overseas version of my latest 3DSWare game, it was good timing for me to step down and take a short break in order to recharge for my next project.”
A day later, presumably after receiving messages from curious fans regarding his health, Matsuno tweeted to followers: “To concerned friends: I’m happy to report I’m in perfect health. Just taking a little time to recharge before my next project! thx. :)”
Food for thought:
Quite a few people aren’t aware of this to date, but Yasumi Matsuno also helped out on the story for MadWorld on the Wii, developed by PlatinumGames.
