Masahiro Sakurai, the creator of the Smash Bros franchise, recently confirmed in an interview that he is “semi-retired”, alluding to the fact that he won’t be working on games full-time going forward.
The legendary Masahiro Sakurai, creator of massive Nintendo properties like Super Smash Bros. and Kirby steps down from making video games full-time.
When talking about this with Denfaminicogamer.jp Sakurai specifically remembered his 9 years of work on Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U and Smash Ultimate.
“Sakurai felt that if he is just continuously making games full time, his life will be over before he realizes it,” said PushDustIn in his Twitter thread, where he translated the interview from Japanese to English.
Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest updates on Esports, Gaming and more.
14. Sakurai confirms that he is semi-retired. He is 52 after all. When Smash for 3DS / Wii U and Ultimate he spent 9 years in active development. Sakurai felt that if he is just continuously making games full time, his life will be over before he realizes it.
— Will (PushDustIn) (@PushDustIn) December 27, 2022
Smash players from around the world were quick to point out that this puts the future of the Smash Bros franchise under a question mark.
“If Smash 6 is in the works, then he’s not directing it. I suppose that’d emphasize it being the start of a new era even more,” reads one of the replies in the thread. “I also suppose he could be playing a consulting role still if he’s only ‘semi-retired.”
Hopefully, Sakurai will still play a supporting role in upcoming Nintendo titles, or even work on smaller-scale projects on his own. His expertise in the field of making great video games is second to none.