Masayuki Kato, Founder and Former president of Nihon Falcom, which gave us my favorite RPG series Ys as well as the popular Legend of Heroes, has passed away on Sunday, December 15th, at the age of 78. This news comes from an announcement made by the company yesterday.
Kato got his start as a computer technician in the auto industry but quickly fell in love with personal computers as well as their application for Game development and entertainment. this led to him founding Nihon Falcom in 1981, with the plan to publish Japanese games for personal computers in partnership with American company Apple. This makes Nihon Falcom one of the oldest Japanese developers still in operation today. The company takes its name from the popular ship from Star Wars, the Millenium Falcon, with the twist of an M instead of an N, with com being a computer term.
The studio, under Kato’s leadership, would go on to be a pioneering influence in the Japanese gaming industry, especially for action-RPGS. They went on to develop Panorama Toh in 1983, Dragon Slayer in 1984, and Xanadu in 1985. In 1987 they would go on to release one of their longest-running series Ys which released its most recent title Ys X: Nordics in October of this year. Other noticeable games to premier that year include Square’s Final Fantasy series, as well as Atlus’s Megami Tensei, best known now for its Persona spin-off.
The company continued to develop titles for PC, predominantly for the first two decades. This would change when the studio began working with Sony on several games for titles including Ys and Legends of Heroes. They have gone on to be a third-party developer across Nintendo and Sony platforms but maintain a more spotty record with releasing on Xbox. They have seen an increased popularity with recent releases, performing well on the Nintendo Switch across Japan and the West.
Kato stepped down from his role as president in 2001 as part of a restructuring across the company, replaced by Shinji Yamazaki, then later on current president Toshihiro Kondo stepped into the role. Kato however remained with the company as chairman of the board of directors, where he served until his death. He has been credited as a producer on multiple recent releases including that of Ys x: Nordics, a title I cannot recommend enough. Masayuki Kato had a profound effect on the industry, and his loss will be felt.
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