Respected industry veteran Yu Suzuki has retired from his role as a creative officer at Sega, as the famed creator further reduces his role at the company.

So complete was Suzuki's disappearance from the public eye that in a 2008 interview with Gamasutra, Sega of America CEO Simon Jeffrey mistakenly suggested that he had left the company. He later rectified his comments by revealing that Suzuki was still a "creative officer".

Now, an extensive corporate reshuffle announced on the Sega Sammy website has revealed that he has retired, but will still remain as a manager of the R&D department of Sega’s AM Plus coin-op division. His current projects are unknown.

Suzuki’s early career at Sega saw him direct a string of classic coin-ops, including Space Harrier, Hang-On, OutRun, Virtua Fighter and Virtua Cop.

His biggest project was Dreamcast title Shenmue, but the massive budget (reputed to be in the region of $70 million) and limited sales made it impossible to finish the intended trilogy, and his profile at Sega diminished almost overnight.