Tomonobu Itagaki has died at the age of 58.

Koei Tecmo

Renowned game director and producer Tomonobu Itagaki has sadly passed away at the age of 58.

Normally, when these things happen, I rarely know the person directly, but in this instance, this is a bit different.

When I first moved to Japan over a decade ago, Itagaki was kind enough to give me advice and support on working in game development in Tokyo.

His insights were always thoughtful, and he had a clear and genuine passion for gaming. In fact, it was our mutual love of Armored Trooper VOTOMS and Image Fight that forged the initial connection.

So, while I thoroughly get that his ostentatious rock star persona was an effective marketing and PR exercise, that’s not how I remember him.

In fact, the Facebook post that announced his passing had a picture of him without his signature glasses and looking genuinely pensive, and that’s the Itagaki I knew, if only a little.

While other outlets have posted that picture on their various news pieces about his death, I do personally feel that it is rather crass.

It was uploaded to his personal Facebook account, along with a farewell message, so it feels wrong to share that publicly (hence the more typical photo of him used above).

I also went back over our fairly extensive correspondence, and I am still struck by how engaging and kind he was, a far cry from the bravado he showed publicly.

In any case, Itagaki is sadly no longer with us, and while I have never subscribed to the nonsense that games are just made by “one guy”, I do feel gaming will be a lesser place without him around.

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