Miyamoto Leaves Nintendo, Working on New IP

Miyamoto-san will leave on April 30.

Saying that he was frustrated with upper management at Nintendo over disappointing sales of its newest console Wii U, Shigeru Miyamoto announced today he will leave the Japanese gaming giant at the end of March. Miyamoto, whose creations include Donkey Kong, The Legend of Zelda, Pikmin, and Super Mario, will stay on with the company to help transfer his current projects to producers Eiji Aonuma and Yoshiaki Koizumi.

When asked about his future plans in the video game industry, Miyamoto suggested he would like to design smaller, less expensive games for Android and Apple devices. He went on to reveal some details on a new IP inspired by Angry Birds:

“Angry Birds is a very simple idea but it’s one of those games that I immediately appreciated when I first started playing, before wishing that I had been the one to come up with the idea first. This new game will have a control scheme that is less fuzzy than Angry Birds, but it will combine traditional and new game elements in exciting ways.”

Shigeru Miyamoto has worked with Nintendo since 1979. Until today's announcement he managed Nintendo's Entertainment Analysis and Development (EAD) branch, which handles most of the company's highest-selling properties.

Nintendo has not yet announced who will succeed Miyamoto at Nintendo EAD.

Said Miyamoto of his upcoming departure, "April Fool's Day."