Hideki Konno, who led Mario Kart, 3DS hardware, and more, is gone from Nintendo after 40 years

It’s been revealed that longtime Nintendo designer Hideki Konno has left the company after about forty years.

Konno joined Nintendo way back in 1986. His first game was Super Mario Bros. 2, but he’s had quite the resume since. For a long time, he was the producer for most Mario Kart titles (director on Super Mario Kart) – though Kosuke Yabuki took over that job starting with Mario Kart 8. He was also the director of Luigi’s Mansion on GameCube. As the general producer of mobile development, Konno worked on Miitomo, Dr. Mario World, Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp, Super Mario Run, Fire Emblem Heroes, and Mario Kart Tour.

Even on the hardware front, Konno played a big role. He acted as producer for the Nintendo 3DS back in the day.

Konno’s Facebook page confirms that he left Nintendo last July, but the news is spreading now. We won’t share his page to protect his privacy, but a status update mentions his departure.

This isn’t the only major staff retirement we’ve heard about this week. Kensuke Tanabe, who has worked on Metroid Prime, Paper Mario, and more, said that Metroid Prime 4: Beyond was his last game with Nintendo. Read more about that here.