Masayuki Kato, the founder and former president of Ys and Legend of Heroes developer Nihon Falcom, died on Sunday, December 15 at the age of 78, based on an announcement from the company today.
Kato obtained his begin as a pc technician working within the auto trade, however fell in love with private computer systems and their capability for video games and leisure. He based Nihon Falcom in 1981 initially to publish video games for Japanese private computer systems in partnership with Apple, making Nihon one of the oldest online game corporations nonetheless in existance right now. He named his firm after the Millenium Falcon from Star Wars, however with a “com” at the tip for computer systems.
The founder of Nihon Falcom, Masayuki Kato, handed away on December 15, 2024 at the age of 78.
Thanks for all the things. Could you relaxation in peace… https://t.co/j1XR6vQJB0 pic.twitter.com/OTH0rlY8s9
— 🍞 Brad 🍞 (@Baust528) December 17, 2024
Over time, Nihon Falcom beneath Kato’s management grew to become generally known as one of the pioneers of the action-RPG style, starting with Panorama Toh in 1983, Dragon Slayer in 1984, and Xanadu in 1985. Nihon Falcom step by step grew to become a full-fledged developer in its personal proper, creating long-running collection comparable to Ys and The Legend of Heroes.
The studio continued to remain within the lane of Japanese PC video games for the primary twenty years of its historical past. However that modified within the early 2000s, when Nihon Falcom started working with PlayStation to deliver video games comparable to Ys I & II Full and The Legend of Heroes: Trails within the Sky to PlayStation gadgets such because the PS2 and PSP. Ever since then, the corporate has continued to launch motion RPGs cross-platform and globally with some third-party assist, much more just lately increasing to Nintendo platform releases.
Kato stepped down from his position as president of Nihon Falcom in 2001 as half of a bigger restructure, and was succeeded by Shinji Yamazaki and, in a while, the present president Toshihiro Kondo. Kato remained concerned with the corporate as chairman of the board of administrators till his loss of life. He’s credited as a producer on a quantity of newer Ys and The Legend of Heroes video games, together with the corporate’s most up-to-date international launch, Ys X: Nordics.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You’ll find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Bought a narrative tip? Ship it to rvalentine@ign.com.