It’s very rare these days that we get to talk about something truly unique and special happening. After all, while the gaming industry is about innovation to a certain extent, a lot of parity and repetition has gone on over the years, making it feel very muddled. So when Masahiro Sakurai announced that he was doing a special YouTube channel about “Creating Games,” he would use the videos to relay his insight about the gaming industry, game design, the titles he’s worked on, and more, people were very excited. One year later, they’re even more excited about what may come next.
While it may not feel like it, the “Creating Games” channel has officially been around for a year. Sakurai himself posted about this on Twitter and noted that in that timeframe, he launched 140 videos in the first year.
Furthermore, if you look at the English version of the tweeted video, you’ll hear that Masahiro Sakurai wants this channel to continue for years to come. He acknowledges that what he’s doing is rather niche but hopes that this will help game developers both presently and in the future. That is his main goal for the channel, which is why he wants to keep it running for a long time.
While it’s true that his videos aren’t breaking the internet views-wise, that doesn’t mean he’s not successful on his channel. The English version of the channel alone has over half a million subscribers, and he has just as much on the Japanese version of the channel.
Furthermore, while the views go up and down depending on the topic, there’s no denying that some of these topics are incredibly popular or useful to those thinking about going into video game development.
For example, over the last month or so, Sakurai has dropped numerous videos detailing the development of Super Smash Bros in multiple forms and scenarios. He’s talked about the origins of certain titles, how debugging the games is always a large task and more.
On the game development side, recently, he’s talked about guidelines that all developers must follow, how to stay organized as you create your title, how to mix visual styles to be appealing, and more.
No one could’ve expected this channel to be so special when it first came out. Yet Sakurai and his team have poured a ton of love into it, and the results speak for themselves.