Masahiro Sakurai’s Journey with ‘Creating Games’ Nears Its End – What’s in Store for the Director?
In August 2022, Masahiro Sakurai, the director of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, launched the YouTube channel ‘Creating Games.’ Over the past year and a half, the channel garnered significant interest as Sakurai revealed behind-the-scenes details and showcased his passion for the video game medium. However, all good things must come to an end, and Sakurai has announced that the channel will conclude sometime in 2024. While no specific reason was provided for the announcement, and a specific end date remains unknown at this time.
On the channel’s community page, Sakurai wrote, ‘It’s a bit late to be saying this, but…Happy New Year. I’m planning to wrap up Masahiro Sakurai on Creating Games sometime this year. Until then, I hope you’ll stay tuned!’
Despite Sakurai’s enthusiasm for the video series, the decision to conclude it might be influenced by factors such as cost. Last year, Sakurai’s channel featured a crossover with Retro Game Master. In a separate post on the community page, Sakurai mentioned that his ‘wallet certainly felt the impact’ of the crossover when considering ‘studio fees, editing fees, translation fees, two copies of each game, and so forth.’
The Next Super Smash Bros:
Another conceivable reason for the channel’s conclusion could be Sakurai’s involvement in the development of the next installment in the Super Smash Bros. franchise. Since the release of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate’s final DLC fighter in 2021, Sakurai and Nintendo have maintained secrecy about the series’ future. The inclusion of Sora in the game marked the conclusion of major new content for the Nintendo Switch fighter, and Sakurai has identified himself as ‘semi-retired’ ever since.
Despite this, each Nintendo home console has seen a Smash Bros. game since the franchise’s debut in 1999, and a new Nintendo console is rumored to launch in the second half of 2024. If this speculation holds true, a new Smash Bros. game is likely not far behind. Additionally, recent job listings have suggested that Bandai Namco’s Studio 2 & Studio S may have initiated work on the next installment in the series.
While Super Smash Bros. Ultimate hasn’t received additional stages or fighters since Sora’s release, Nintendo occasionally introduces new Spirits to the game. An upcoming event starting on January 11th will provide players with an opportunity to encounter new Spirits from Xenoblade Chronicles 3, Pikmin 4, Splatoon 3, and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. Nintendo promises that defeating these Spirits on the Spirit Board will yield ‘more gold than usual.’ The event is set to last for five days.