Aya Kyogoku

Aya Kyogoku (Japanese: 京極あや, Hepburn: Kyōgoku Aya, born c. 1981) is a Japanese video game director and producer. She is the current manager of Nintendo's Entertainment Planning & Development (EPD) Group No. 5, which oversees the Animal Crossing, Splatoon, and Wii Sports franchises. Kyogoku is best known for her work on Animal Crossing, where she has alternately served as a producer, director, and supervisor since 2008.

Aya Kyogoku
京極あや
Born1981 or 1982[1]
Osaka, Japan[2]
Occupationvideo game director and producer
EmployerAtlus (2000-2003)
Nintendo (2003–present)
Notable work
Animal Crossing
TitleManager of Nintendo EPD Production Group No. 5 (2019-present)

Biography

Kyogoku began her career in 2000 at the video game company Atlus before joining Nintendo in September 2003.[1][3] At Nintendo, Kyogoku worked as a scriptwriter on The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures and The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.[1] In 2008 she worked as a sequence director on Animal Crossing: City Folk, where she was responsible for script writing and all elements relating to non-player character behavior and dialogue.[1][4]

Kyogoku and Isao Moro jointly served as directors of Animal Crossing: New Leaf, the 2012 sequel to City Folk, making Kyogoku the first woman to direct a video game at Nintendo Entertainment Analysis & Development (EAD).[5] Following the mixed critical and commercial performance of City Folk, Kyogoku sought to "get back to the series' roots" on New Leaf.[6] After noting that she was frequently the only woman on development teams, Kyogoku and New Leaf producer Katsuya Eguchi hired a team that was half female; she also encouraged all individuals on the development team to contribute ideas for the game, regardless of their role on the project.[5] New Leaf went on to sell over 12 million copies,[7] and was listed as one of the best games of the 2010s by IGN[8] and Polygon;[9] Kyogoku credits the diversity of the team for New Leaf's critical and commercial success,[1][5] stating that "when you are trying to create something that will appeal to many types of people, I have experienced how beneficial it is to have diversity on your team."[6]

In 2015, Kyogoku produced the Animal Crossing spin-off title Happy Home Designer. In 2019, she was named as Manager of Nintendo Entertainment Planning & Development (EPD) Production Group No. 5, a position previously held by Hisashi Nogami before he was promoted at Deputy General Manager of Nintendo EPD.[1][10] She directed Animal Crossing: New Horizons, the fifth main series title in the Animal Crossing series, in 2020.[1]

Works

Atlus

Nintendo

References
  1. Woitier, Chloé (18 June 2019). "Ikumi Nakamura, Aya Kyogoku... les créatrices de jeux vidéo mises à l'honneur durant l'E3 2019". Le Figaro (in French). Retrieved 12 February 2020.
  2. Garcia, Eddie (2015). "Nintendo E3 2015 Press Kit". Nintendo. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
  3. Davidson, Ty (29 March 2016). "Aya Kyogoku: Nintendo's Rising Star and Secret Weapon". Goomba Stomp. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
  4. "Iwata Asks - Animal Crossing: City Folk". Nintendo. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
  5. Hudson, Laura (28 March 2014). "Nintendo's New Key to Creativity: More Women". Wired. Archived from the original on 3 June 2014. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
  6. McWhertor, Michael (19 March 2014). "Animal Crossing: New Leaf director says team diversity, communication core to its success". Polygon. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
  7. "Top Selling Software Sales Units - Nintendo 3DS Software". Nintendo. 31 December 2019. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  8. "The Best Games of the Decade (2010 - 2019)". IGN. 26 January 2020. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
  9. "The 100 best games of the decade (2010-2019): 100-51". Polygon. 4 November 2019. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
  10. "Nintendo promotes Aya Kyogoku, Hisashi Nogami, Eiji Aonuma, and Yoshihito Ikebata". Nintendo Everything. 14 June 2019. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
  11. "deSPIRIA – Credits". GameFAQs. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
  12. "Wizardry: Tale of the Forsaken Land – Credits". GameFAQs. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
  13. "Iwata Asks - The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess". Nintendo. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
  14. "Iwata Asks - Animal Crossing: New Leaf". Nintendo. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
  15. Doolan, Liam (8 December 2014). "Animal Crossing Plaza Service Stops At the End of This Month". Nintendo Life. Gamer Network. Retrieved 1 February 2020.
  16. "Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer devs – spin-off origins, decision to focus on house creation, more". Nintendo Everything. 20 September 2015. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
  17. Parish, Jeremy (9 July 2015). ""Honestly, we just wanted Animal Crossing Amiibo": Nintendo's Aya Kyogoku on Evolving The Series". USGamer. Gamer Network. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
  18. Weber, Rachel (20 December 2017). "Nintendo explains how it added microtransactions to Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp without pissing me off". GamesRadar. Retrieved 12 February 2020.

Further reading
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