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Gakuen Idolm@ster Game's Main Producer Hidefumi Komino Steps Down

In a livestream event for Bandai Namco Entertainment's Gakuen Idolm@ster (Academy Idolm@ster) game app on Tuesday, Hidefumi Komino announced that he has stepped down as the main producer for the game as of that day. He noted that while he will still be involved with the game, he no longer has a say in the game's development. Daichi Satō and Ryō Yamamoto, who were both assistant producers for the game, will now both jointly serve as the main producers.

プロデューサーの皆さん、お疲れ様でした！今後とも学マスをよろしくお願い致します。 pic.twitter.com/ASfX7VMovq

— 小美野日出文 (@JohnnyVorthosP) June 17, 2025

Just before this announcement, Komino also reported that the game's music producer Takafumi Satō had left Bandai Namco Entertainment at the end of March after 15 years and founded his own music production company 2nd Star Production, but remains the music producer for Gakuen Idolm@ster.

Komino has been a producer on Bandai Namco Entertainment since 2008 and has been involved as a producer for Idolm@ster titles as well as other Bandai Namco titles since then. He was the acting main producer for The IDOLM@STER Million Live! Theater Days from 2019 to 2021 while its main producer Wakako Hazama was on maternity leave.

Gakuen Idolm@sterlaunched on smartphones in Japan in May 2024. The PC version launched this year on March 18. In the game, the player is a producer who hones and produces idol talents from the Hatsuboshi Gakuen idol training school. The game launched with nine idols that players could produce, but has since added more over time alongside in-game events. The game focuses on highly competitive idols who are all peers and rivals despite being friends, and features songs and stylish music videos highly reminiscent of recent Japanese YouTube hits, and the utaite subculture.

Kotoba Inoya (Smile Down the Runway) and Yuu Okino launched the Gakuen Idolmaster Gold Rush manga in Akita Publishing's Shōnen Champion magazine on October 2024. The manga focuses on the character Kotone Fujita from the game.

Sources: Gakuen Idolm@ster livestream (timestamp 1:24:12), Denfamico Gamer via Otakomu

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Disclosure: Bandai Namco Filmworks Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Bandai Namco Holdings Inc., is a non-controlling, minority shareholder in Anime News Network Inc.