Masahiro Sakurai is a giant in the gaming industry. He is one of the most recognized faces over at Nintendo, and thus, the gaming world. Gamers commonly refer to him as Mr. Sakurai in a show of respect.
His most recent project, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, rose up the ranks to unseat Street Fighter 2 as the number one selling fighting game of all time in just one year. The Super Smash Bros. franchise has become the highest selling fighting game series of all time, beating out games like Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter, Tekken, Marvel vs. Capcom, and more.
But now it seems like gamers may have to bid farewell to Mr. Sakurai in the near future.
In a recent interview, Sakurai spoke a bit about the future of his own career while discussing Super Smash Bros. Ultimate’s Fighters’ Pass 2 DLC bundle, which has been delayed due to the spread of COVID-19.
Sakurai noted in the interview that, at the moment, his main focus is the upcoming Smash Bros. DLC fighters. He doesn’t typically look much further into the future than his current project, which is not shocking from such a seasoned developer. However, what he said next, shocked everyone.
“Though, honestly, there’s no guarantee I’ll keep making games after this,” Sakurai said. “Right now, all I’m thinking about is the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate DLC development. Once that’s done, I actually have absolutely nothing lined up.”
A developer of Sakurai’s level typically has several projects lined up. The fact that he has nothing going on following the release of the second Fighters’ Pass DLC is rare, indeed. While it’s possible that he was simply reconfirming an earlier report that the second round of DLC will be the final installment of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, this could have been a statement hinting at his retirement from the industry.
One would assume that, should Mr. Sakurai be continuing on with Nintendo after this, that he would at least have another Kirby title on his to-do list. Sakurai is the creator of Kirby and has worked on the character throughout his Nintendo career.
Sakurai’s health concerns might have something to do with his future career prospects. In the past, his work has impacted his health in a negative way. Sakurai has admitted in interviews that he has worked while hooked up to an IV drip before. He also recently fainted at a gym while exercising.
