Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Animal Crossing: New Horizons composer leaves Nintendo

Yasuaki Iwata, who was a composer on notable games during the Switch era, has left Nintendo.

His departure actually took place in July 2023. However, he went on social media this week and only just shared the news now.

Iwata’s career at Nintendo was relatively short, but he had a big impact on the music you heard in some of the company’s top games. His first title was Super Mario 3D World in 2013, but he also worked on Mario Kart 8, Zelda: Breath of the Wild, ARMS, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, and Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity.

For Zelda: Breath of the Wild, he composed a bunch of different songs including Hateno Village and Sidon’s Theme. The opening theme for Animal Crossing: New Horizons? That was also from Iwata.

In his message, Iwata expressed his “heartfelt gratitude to everyone who supported me over the years, to those who enjoyed my work, and to everyone who listened to the music through the projects I was a part of.” He has since moved on to new projects, but as of now it’s unclear what he’s worked on.

The full message is as follows:

I have a bit of a belated announcement to share. In July of last year, I took a step in a new direction by leaving my position at Nintendo. I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to everyone who supported me over the years, to those who enjoyed my work, and to everyone who listened to the music through the projects I was a part of. I’ve been working on new projects since my departure, and I hope to have the opportunity to share some of these with you in the near future. If there are those who would like to continue following my journey, I’d be truly grateful, and I hope you look forward to what’s to come. Thank you very much for your continued support!

We previously translated an interview Iwata participated in for Zelda: Breath of the Wild’s music. You can read that in full here.