Masahiro Sakurai, the creator behind Super Smash Bros. and Kirby, has reportedly shared that he is “semi-retired” from game development.
Sakurai’s comments came during an interview with Denfaminico Gamer (via Gamesradar), and although the article is in Japanese, Twitter user PushDustIn has summarised the developer’s comments for English readers.
“Sakurai confirms that he is semi-retired. He is 52 after all,” reads the summary. “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.”
Sakurai also acknowledged that while his work on the Super Smash Bros. series is “very important as it uses so many different characters [and] concepts from the games industry,” he wanted to make his YouTube channel – Masahiro Sakurai on Creating Games – while he “had the chance” with more free time.
Even in his semi-retirement, Sakurai appears to have plenty to keep him busy. The developer is “doing well health wise” and has recently completed God of War Ragnarok, Sonic Frontiers and Bayonetta 3 while using an exercise bike. On the topic of his YouTube channel, Sakurai revealed that he films all of his YouTube videos – including any game footage – by himself, and reads through all of the comments that fans leave.
Back in 2021, Sakurai shared that he doesn’t “see a path” where Super Smash Bros. can be produced without him.
“If the series were to continue, I have to talk with Nintendo and have a debate on whether it will succeed or not,” he added. “I must think about this topic seriously.”
In other gaming news, GSC Game World has shared a new trailer and PC system requirements for Stalker 2: Heart Of Chornobyl.
