Though we often give praises to esteemed game developers in this day and age, we perhaps don’t take enough time to consider the creators of some of gaming’s more niche, yet highly influential, classics. Such is the case with Hidetoshi “Neo_G” Ishizawa, who played a prominent role as Planner, Producer, and Battle System Designer for a number of Capcom’s classic games, including Street Fighter Alpha 2, Street Fighter 3: Third Strike, Vampire Savior, Capcom vs. SNK 2: Mark of the Millennium, and Marvel vs. Capcom 2. He’s also had a role in some of Capcom’s contemporary titles, like Tatsunoko vs. Capcom Ultimate All-Stars, Marvel vs. Capcom 3, and Devil May Cry 4.

Yesterday on Facebook and Twitter, Ishizawa announced that he had left his position at Capcom for SNK Playmore.

そんなわけで、いま、SNKにいます。

名実ともに「Neo_G」になっちゃった！w

— Neo_G (@Neo_G_3) April 1, 2016

Ishizawa, who joined Capcom in 1995, has not yet given a reason for leaving Capcom. His departure, however, is not entirely recent. His Facebook page states that he had actually left the company in January.

You can take a gander at Nishizawa’s storied past working at Capcom here. As former Capcom spokesperson Seth Killian said of Ishizawa in 2009, “This guy [Neo_G] is kind of like the mechanic who’s in the lab with grease all over his face.”

Though exactly what Ishizawa will be working on at SNKP has not yet been announced, many SNK fans seem to be overjoyed at the news of having one of the fighting game genre’s most esteemed veterans join the club.

This fact is made especially pertinent by recent news and rumors surrounding SNKP, who, after some rather catastrophic financial troubles and a precarious venture into the pachinko industry, has recently announced that they will be shifting their focus to their classic fighting game titles like The King of Fighters (the latest installment of which is set to release later this year) and Samurai Shodown (which is rumored to receive a 2017 reboot).

One of the few pictures available of Ishizawa.

We wish Ishizawa the best of luck at his new job, and look forward to any exciting new fighting game titles to which he may bring his expertise.