Disgaea series creator Sohei Niikawa departs Nippon Ichi Software

In a new press release (run through Google Translate), Nippon Ichi Software president Sohei Niikawa has announced his resignation. No specifics were given for his departure from the company, other than it being for “personal circumstances.”

Nippon Ichi is perhaps best known for the Disgaea franchise, series of JRPGs that first began in 2003 with Disgaea: Hour of Darkness. As of 2021, the series has shipped 5 million copies. Its most recent entry was a re-release of the 2020 game, Disgaea 6: Defiance.

Before being appointed as Nippon Ichi’s president in 2009, Niikawa served as a producer and writer on several installments in the Disgaea franchise. Though he’s departing the company, the press release adds that he will remain a consultant for Nippon’s subsidiary, NIS America.

Taking over presidential and chairman duties in his stead will be Koichi Kitazumi. Kitazumi helped found the company in 1993, and later became its chairman and executive director in 2009. 

In his separate letter (run through Google Translate) to the company, Kitazumi outlined some of his goals for Nippon Ichi as the company gets closer to its 30th anniversary. Specifically, Kitazumi said he planned on creating a “powerful” new IP, and that the graphics in the company’s titles would need to be improved. 

“These are easier said than done,” admitted Kitazumi. “But we believe that accumulating efforts to improve these capabilities will be the driving force behind the creation of powerful IP.”