Earlier this week, Masahiro Sakurai revealed the final DLC fighter for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. In case you did somehow miss it - it's Sora from Square Enix's long-running Kingdom Hearts series.
Sakurai's all-star brawler for Switch isn't the only thing coming to an end, either. As you might recall, his regular Famitsu columns will end. Believe it or not, but he's been writing this column since 2003. In it, he's discussed Smash Bros. and touched on many other game releases over the years.
Although Sakurai is drawing the curtains on Smash Ultimate and his column, this does not necessarily mean retirement is around the corner. Earlier this year in May, he touched on how he liked the "idea of early retirement" but clarified he would not be retiring from the game industry.
"I am thinking of ending this column a while after releasing all the DLCs for the Smash Brothers SP. Within this year, in any case. I won't be retiring from the game industry completely, though."
Apart from a well-deserved break, what would you like to see from Mr. Sakurai next? Leave a comment below.
[source twitter.com]
Comments 28
Ah okay, it's been fun seeing his insight on things.
Sakurai must go now, his people need him.
He deserves rest right now. We will probably see him again some day down the road. It has been a long journey with him for so many years but we will see him again. Someday
Mr Sakurai deserves a break after all the work he has put into Smash and the other games he has made.
And if he retires then ‘thank you’ for all the great gaming moments he has given us.
Is he going to make a game for Playstation? That would be wild…
Let the man do something else I say.
Relax now Sakurai, relax.....
I hope he does a world tour playing his Nintendo Switch off camera, one country per fighter as he enjoys a well deserved break
I love all of sakurai’s games but I think he deserves an early retirement so I’m fine with this being his game
Its always the "he deserves a break" comments when it comes to Sakurai, and I just dont get it. Dont get me wrong, I appreciate the love that went into Smash bros, but He works with the company that is pretty well known not to put their devs under undue stress and crunch time, and generally people just continue to work, moving on to the next thing, when they finish another, as is the unfortunate life of being an adult. It just always strikes me as strange that people think he needs some sort of long ass rest from working just because he directed a project they enjoyed.
Ohhh NOW it makes sense why he's so "burnt out" all the time while casually producing DLC for a long-finished video game. He's also been writing a blog! PLEASE REST MR. SAKURAI YOUR GRUELING SCHEDULE IS GODLY!
@Bakfug
I understand from your comment that you have never delivered a gold master to a publisher. Let alone a game where 80+ entities have to be balanced with each other. The amount of stress and pressure is huge, plz don't underestimate that.
@Bulborb Were you aware that there is a team of over 200 people who work/worked on Smash Bros Ultimate?
https://nintendo.fandom.com/wiki/Super_Smash_Bros._Ultimate/credits
I understand from your comment that you are under the impression that Sakurai is personally sitting alone at a desk for 23 hours a day adjusting numerical integers and hit boxes for game characters.
@Bakfug yeah, I don’t get all the ‘he needs a well deserved break’ comments too, it’s almost like a meme now. Sakurai himself always says he works with a team, who I assume are all hard working humans.
Perhaps now he can get a few hours off to actually visit Iwata's grave.
It's amazing how special some of these games developers are to us. I wish more of them would put themselves in the spotlight, like Sakurai does, so that we can send them and their teams our appreciation.
I'll add Miyazaki and Michiru Yamane to that quiet appreciation, as I listen to Sugiyama's work.
Video games still look like magic to me, even though I know some basics in C++ code. The things these people do is amazing, and I wouldn't even be able to wrap my head around balancing a fighting game like Smash.
NINJA APPROVED
@FNL numerical integers? What other kind of integers are there?
@FNL
Where is that facepalm emoji when you need one. You describe common knowledge. No problem, but my statement still stands.
@FNL @Bulborb @Bakfug
I think one of the most important things we forgot about is Sakurai having health issues. Whether or not he works harder than his team at Bandai Namco, he still has to fight through a lot of physical pain.
The stress he has comes from himself wanting to make the game the very best it could be. I don't know what else to say about that really, but just respect him and his team and move on. It's not about choosing who to congratulate, it's about congratulating everyone.
@ModdedInkling
Well said, couldn't agree more! #ThankYouSakurai
It seems no one on your site saw the Harada's Bar interview, you only picked up the random stuff, like every other "game journalism" site. On part two, they discussed their work philosophies, and Sakurai said that he believes that a person should work for as long as that person can do that work. So, he wants to continue with game development for as long as possible. We have Sakurai for a while.
I hope they make a book about all his Famitsu Columns just like how they did for all the Iwata Asks, I definitely will buy that book if they do. 😃
I wonder what's next for the guy. Will he take a break? Does he know what kind of game he wants to make next? He has called Smash Ultimate his life's work, but I gotta believe that he'd be feeling a real sense of relief from it finally being over. What if... he decided to leave the industry altogether?!
Kid Icarus Uprising 2
@Bakfug It comes from the fact Sakurai has been known to overwork himself in the past and has had to learn to not do this as much these days. Also from how comitted and dedicated to Smash he has been for over 20 years. Also because he is reputed to be a perfectionist, and scrutinizing every aspect of what he works on.
I get your point, but denying Sakurai isn't seemingly a harder worker than the average man out there is just being oblivious to his reputation and feats throughout his career.
Hopefully he takes a long hiatus to do some R&R and maybe work on a new game or something in the future, if he so chooses.
Man's just gonna live on an island for a year or so to get away from it all
@Baker1000 Doesn’t he already live on an island?
Tap here to load 28 comments
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...