After a few years of running a YouTube channel dedicated to game development tips and insights, Smash Bros. director Masahiro Sakurai has finally hung up the reins. In his final video, he not only shared some extra insight about what he hopes to achieve with any new projects, but Sakurai announced that he has been working on a new game for the past two years.
As mentioned in the video, titled “Masahiro Sakurai on Creating Games: Finale Special,” Sakurai explains that during the development period for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate’s final DLC character, Nintendo asked him to write a proposal for a new game. In true Sakurai fashion, he said, “I’m sorry I can’t share more about this project, but assuming that we’re able to get it made, it should be announced sooner or later.”
Time to speculate about Sakurai’s new project
Speculation across social media is that Sakurai and crew are gearing up for a new Smash Bros. sequel for the upcoming Switch 2. With the console still not officially unveiled but rumored to be released in Q1 or Q2 2025, Sakurai’s new game may just happen to be a Switch 2 launch title and it would make sense for Nintendo to unleash a new iteration of what has become the best-selling fighting game of all time. Still, that sounds way too obvious and Nintendo never takes the easy route.
Another interesting tidbit that Sakurai revealed about his whole YouTube channel is that all of the footage and topics were recorded two and a half years ago barring the finale. The reason Sakurai started his YouTube channel was to occupy himself during downtime before the production of his next game. The target timeframe for the start of that was in April 2022, which was a few months after Smash Ultimate’s DLC wrapped up. Sakurai seized the opportunity and recorded a bunch of footage, spacing it out over two years.
It’s truly astonishing how dedicated and thorough Sakurai is, but I do not doubt that whatever game he is cooking up will be stellar. I’m not convinced it is another Smash Bros., but I wouldn’t say no to another Nintendo free-for-all to kick in a new generation of Switch hardware.
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Written by Peter Glagowski
Peter has been a freelance gaming and film critic for over seven years. His passion for Nintendo is only matched by the size of his collection.
