Yasumi Matsuno, game designer for Final Fantasy Tactics and Vagrant Story, has announced his retirement from Level-5, the developer of the Professor Layton games of which he joined a little over a year ago.
He tweeted, "I'm sorry to report, but due to personal reasons, next month I'll be retiring from Level-5."
"Having ginished production of 3DSWare domestically and in North America and Europe, it's at a good point time-wise for me to retire," he continued.
The 3DSware he mentions is Crimson Shroud, which recently released internationally.
"Even though it was for a short period of time, I was able to work hard without any gross mistakes. I am extremely grateful for the gift of genial teaching I received from everyone. Over and over again, thank you so much. I plan on taking a break for a while. I'm very thankful to have your support from now on," he tweeted later.
It sounds like this is not permanent, in that he won't be leaving the gaming industry permanently, but it's still sad to see him leave Level-5. Hopefully we will see him pop up somewhere else. I hear that the Last Guardian team could use some help.