Visions of Mana Director Joins Square Enix

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Important takeaways

  • Game director Ryosuke Yoshida has left Ouka Studios for Square Enix.
  • Yoshida previously worked at Capcom for over a decade, working on franchises such as Devil May Cry.
  • Visions of Mana was released on August 29, 2024.



After the launch of Visions of Mana in August 2024, director Ryosuke Yoshida revealed that he has left Ouka Studios to join its publisher, Square Enix. In addition to managing the publishing tasks for Visions of Manathe Japanese gaming giant also owns the rights to the long-running IP.

After four years of development, Visions of Manathe long-awaited mainline game to succeed 2006's Dawn of Manarolled out to a fairly positive reception on August 29, 2024. The fantasy game follows the story of Val and his companions as they embark on a journey to the mysterious Mana Tree, facing various challenges along the way. Even if Visions of Mana Things generally went well, rumors quickly surfaced of parent NetEase and Tencent shutting down Ouka Studios right around the time of the action game's launch. Now the director is behind the latest entry in the Mana series has highlighted his own departure from the company.


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Ryosuke Yoshida recently left Visions of Mana developer Ouka Studios publicly on Twitter. The Japanese game industry veteran, who joined the NetEase-owned studio as a Senior Game Designer before being promoted to Game Director, revealed that he left his former employer on October 31. As of December, Yoshida joined Square Enix, the owner of Mana franchise. In its announcement, the Visions of Mana the director thanked his Ouka Studios team and NetEase, calling his employment “a very good experience.” In addition Dragon Quest the developer's latest big recruit shared his goal to make “a game that a lot of people can enjoy” working for his new company.


Visions of Mana Director brings a wealth of experience to Square Enix


With Ryosuke Yoshida joining its ranks, Square Enix has gained a key addition who brings over 15 years of industry experience to the table. Before working at Ouka Studios, the Tokyo-based game director honed his craft at the wildly popular Japanese publisher Capcom for over a decade. Notably, he contributed to established franchise agreements, such as Devil May Cry and Lost Planetduring his time there. Given Square Enix's own catalog of major IPs, incl Final Fantasy and Kingdom Heartsthere are some promising opportunities for Yoshida in his new job.

Currently, Square Enix has several projects in various stages of progress. These highly anticipated titles range from Dragon Quest 1 and 2 HD-2D Remake to the recently delayed Kingdom Hearts mobile games. Among them, the most anticipated game is undoubtedly the last entry in Final Fantasy 7 remake trilogy, which is expected to hit the shelves in a few years.


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