‘Super Smash Bros.’ creator “can’t really imagine” new game being made without him

Super Smash Bros. Brawl series creator Masahiro Sakurai has said that he might not be ready to be absent from the next game.

“What happens next time? I mean whatever comes after Smash Bros. Ultimate,” he said in a YouTube video while relaying the game’s development story. “One option would be the separate the series itself from the original creator. But for now, at least, I can’t really imagine a Smash Bros. title without me.”

Previously, Sakurai voiced his thoughts that he has been too involved in the development of Super Smash Bros and that a new title would have to be more focused than earlier entries.

Moreover, in 2021, he said that he had been toying with the idea of retirement. The esteemed video game director and designer has worked on every Super Smash Bros. title from 1999 to 2018, as well as seven of the Kirby games and Kid Icarus: Uprising in 2012.

“You might think that’s a natural stance for someone in my role, but I say so speaking objectively,” continued Sakurai in the video. “I feel the same way President [Satoru] Iwata did when we formed the team for Smash Bros. Brawl. At present, we don’t have someone who can simply take the reins…”

The future of the fighting game series is promising, in spite of how Sakurai’s admissions might have sounded. “Smash Bros. is a massive, important title for Nintendo, so it’s fair to assume there will be another one at some point,” he explained.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate had its last downloadable content (DLC) character be released two years ago, but professional competitions and tournaments are still as active as ever.

“It’s going to take some work to figure out exactly how to make that happen. For my part, I’d like to keep working with Nintendo however I’m able,” concluded the series creator.

In other gaming news, Larian Studios responded to the assertions that Baldur’s Gate 3 is going to set a “new standard” for RPGs, saying that there is “so much stuff” to develop instead.