Highlights
- Masahiro Sakurai, the director of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, believes that the series cannot continue without his involvement.
- Sakurai states that while the series could go on with a new director, he believes there isn't a director who can replace him in making the Nintendo crossover game what it is.
The director of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Masahiro Sakurai, believes that the long-running Nintendo crossover can't continue without his involvement. Sakurai has been the director of the series since the original Super Smash Bros. on the Nintendo 64, and has continued to hold that position all the way to the release of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate on Switch. He once stated that Ultimate's launch was one of the last wishes of the late Nintendo president, Satoru Iwata. With Ultimate complete, Sakurai's focus has been on his YouTube channel, "Masahiro Sakurai on Creating Games."
Sakurai's YouTube channel launched in August 2022. In his video, Sakurai aims to educate young and upcoming game designers and developers about his philosophies when creating games, as well as lessons he learned in the industry. He also sometimes shares anecdotes regarding some of the games he has worked on, such as the origins of the Super Smash Bros. series. One of the latest videos he released was regarding his work on Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and how he is in a unique position in that the series really can only continue with him involved.
Sakurai states that using a new development team with a freelance director to create new entries in an ongoing series is an extremely rare occurrence in the industry. He acknowledges that the series could go forward with a new director and team after Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, but he himself believes that the series can't go on without him. At the present, Sakurai states that there isn't a director that could theoretically replace him in making the Nintendo crossover game what it is.
This is an opinion that was formed back when Super Smash Bros. Brawl's development was coming together, where Sakurai had met with the late Iwata regarding his possible involvement after its early announcement at E3 2005. Sakurai noted that despite the immense pressure, he states Iwata knew the challenges of making a unique game like Smash Bros., and that he would have a hard time finding a director to take up the reins if Sakurai had said no. This opinion was also maintained by Zelda series producer Eiji Aonuma, where in one of Sakurai's columns, he stated that Smash Bros. would end if Sakurai isn't involved.
Sakurai concludes his video stating that he knows how important the series is to Nintendo, and believes there will eventually be a new Super Smash Bros. title at some point. He thinks that it will require a lot of work to make it happen, which he has stated before in past interviews regarding the series. For Sakurai himself, he wishes to continue working with Nintendo however he is able to.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is available exclusively for Nintendo Switch.
