Famed game writer and designer Kaori Tanaka, mostly known by her pen name Soraya Saga, has announced her retirement from professional work.

Soraya Saga announced her retirement from the games industry on her personal blog, where she noted she had to retire due to family circumstances.

Saga noted a death in the family (and taking care of said family member) alongside new support needed have taken most of her time and as such, she decided retiring would be for the best.

She also noted the success of Xenoblade Chronicles and its writing – by her husband Tetsuya Takahashi – seem to be “widely acclaimed” by fans, so she doesn’t want to “ruin it.”

Saga got her start working for Squaresoft alongside Takahashi as a graphic designer, first working on Final Fantasy V and then Final Fantasy VI.

She submitted a script for Final Fantasy VII she produced with her husband that Square deemed “too dark” for a mainline Final Fantasy game, however they approved it to be made into a separate, standalone game. That game ended up becoming Xenogears.

The success of Xenogears led to Saga and Takahashi leaving Square to form their own company – Monolith Soft – so they could produce new games with similar themes, starting with Xenosaga. Saga wrote Xenosaga Episode 1 and 2 with Takahashi before stepping away from the series.

Here’s the full message from Saga:

Soraya Saga has retired from writing video games due to family circumstances. The key reasons are the following:

• I had been taking care of my grandmother (passed away at the end of 2024) for five years.
• A member of my family who has been going through a difficult time for the past 10 years needs my support for now. Given my tendency to immerse myself in writing too much, I ought not to write yet.
• With the success of Xenoblade Chronicles, Takahashi’s solo writing seems to be widely acclaimed by the fandom. I don’t think I should ruin it.
• As for my health, I’m doing well. Thank you.