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Former WarioWare director Goro Abe says leaving Nintendo has given him room to pursue ideas without focusing on profitability, large sales or specialized hardware in the same way. He has moved into teaching and game-design research at Osaka Electro-Communication University, where he is exploring unfamiliar kinds of game experiences—not announcing a specific new release.
What changed for Abe after leaving Nintendo?
In an interview published October 1, 2026, Abe told VGC that he no longer needs to think about whether a game can sell at scale or be designed around dedicated controllers and specialized devices. “I no longer need to think about profitability, making sure you can sell a lot, or making sure you understand the dedicated controllers or specialized devices,” he said. VGC’s interview with Goro Abe frames this as a change in the commercial considerations attached to his work, not as a claim that Nintendo blocked experimentation.
Abe was careful to say that commercial constraints were not inherently negative: “I actually enjoyed thinking creatively within them when I was working in the industry, and I think they are a natural part of commercial game development.” His point is that he now wants to explore work with different starting priorities, not that his earlier work was worse or that commercial game development cannot be creative.
Why did Goro Abe leave Nintendo?
Abe told VGC that, as he approached his 50th birthday, he thought about how many more games he might make and wanted to challenge himself with unfamiliar work. Teaching also appealed to him. He left Nintendo earlier in 2026 after more than 25 years at the company, according to the interview.
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He joined Nintendo in 1999, worked on games including Wario Land 4, and became director of the WarioWare series. VGC identifies 2023’s WarioWare: Move It! as his most recent game in that role. In March 2026, Abe had already signaled that leaving Nintendo did not mean ending his creative work: “Becoming a professor doesn’t mean retiring from game creation,” he wrote in a public statement reproduced by VGC.
What is Abe doing now?
Abe teaches at Osaka Electro-Communication University, including game design and how it can address social issues. The October interview says he is also researching new game experiences through the university’s Experimental Game Design Laboratory.
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Experimental games and new uses for controllers
One direction is making games unlike those he has worked on before, including exploring the controller as a basic input for something new. In March, he described plans to investigate small experimental games with unconventional mechanics. These are research interests, not details of a named game or confirmed release.
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Abe says he wants to create experiences for people who may not identify as gamers. “My approach is really about trying not necessarily to make games for gamers, but games for other people who don’t necessarily play games,” he told VGC. He is interested in how games might move people through an experience, as well as in gamification and uses that could help create different kinds of places or support companies outside the game industry.
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- Take on over 200 quick and quirky microgames – lightning-fast minigames filled with frantic fun – solo or with a friend! When his latest harebrained business scheme goes awry, Wario must use his signature style (and smell) to fix it. How By playing a twisted collection of microgames of course! From assembling a robot to pulling out a statue’s armpit hair, WarioWare: Get It Together! is a comedic, cooperative microgame mashup.
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Those possibilities remain exploratory. The interview does not name a company partner, commercial program or product. A March report also described possible gamified social services through industry-academia collaboration; neither report confirms that such a service is underway.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Will Goro Abe keep making games?
He says he continues to think about creative projects and would like to make new things with industry colleagues. But the October interview also says his university work leaves him little time to develop games. Abe’s comments point to continued creative interest, not a confirmed schedule, title or commercial launch.
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His stated shift is best understood as a change in the questions he can put first: commercial projects typically have to consider profitability, sales scale and hardware, while his current research can begin with experimentation or social aims. That is Abe’s account of his own work and priorities, not a measured comparison of quality or success across the two settings.
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