Miyamoto Won’t be Working on the Next Mario Game

Shigeru Miyamoto, the legendary creator behind the lovable plumber known as Mario, will likely sit out the development of the next big Nintendo platformer. Speaking in an interview with French outlet Gamekult, Miyamoto explained that the chances of him being involved with the series after Super Mario 3D World are pretty slim, thanks to a new focus on smaller games.

"Creating a Mario of 3D World's caliber demands enormous energy and there is little chance that I'd be able to take the time necessary to work on the next Mario," he explained. "Instead, I want to get involved more heavily in the development of new, smaller-scale projects, but that doesn't necessarily mean just modest downloadable titles.

“It's not impossible that I'll present a new game as principal creator in the future, but even though I'm not directly in charge of a project, I'm always keeping an eye on what the teams are doing in terms of gameplay and I have confidence in them.”

We’ve heard this from Miyamoto before, and he concluded the discussion by telling fans to not worry about Mario. However, it’s bizarre to even consider a world where the next Mario game is being made without the guidance of Miyamoto. The times are changing, but we’ll just have to wait and see what impact his absence will have on the overall product quality.