Virtual-On Creator Juro Watari Leaves Sega

Juro Watari

Juro Watari, the creator of the Virtual-On: Cyber Troopers series, has announced his departure from Sega.

Watari announced February 28th was his last day at Sega over on his Twitter account (via Games Jouhou), marking an end to his 20-plus year career at the company.


“This is to inform you that I am pleased to announce that I have resigned from SEGA Corporation as of the end of February,” Watari said. “I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere gratitude to all the people who helped me during my tenure. I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere gratitude. Thank you very much!”

Fans of the Virtual-On series that are still hoping for new games also got an answer from Watari.

“What about Virtual-On? Some of you may be wondering, ‘What will happen to Virtual-On?’ It pains me to say that I don’t have any answers for you at this time, but if there is any movement at Sega in the future, I would like to watch it with you all with anticipation.”

As for what lies ahead for Watari, he said that remains unclear. “My future plans are still undecided. I hope to find a new place to work and an interesting theme to be passionate about with your guidance and encouragement,” he said.

Watari’s departure from Sega was amicable as he noted his resignation “is not because of any trouble or anything like that. There is no punishment that will lead to my dismissal, so please take care of that.”

For now, Watari joked that he “unexpectedly become unemployed, but I’ll still be tweeting lukewarm stuff” and that he will “spend some time to do a mental reset.”

The last entry in the Virtual-On series was A Certain Magical Index Virtual-On, released for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita in 2018. It featured characters from the light-novel spinoff of the same name, but was never released outside of Japan.

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