In the video game world, the idea of someone making a name for themselves in the trade and then leaving is almost unheard of. After all, if you “love what you do,” you’re not going to be one to leave it willingly. Just look at Shigeru Miyamoto as an example of that, as he wants to keep doing this until he “falls over.” But for Masahiro Sakurai, the man who helped make Super Smash Bros the great franchise that it is, he has a more nuanced take on things. Albeit, one that ends with him saying he’s still making games.
In one of the latest videos in his “Creating Games” franchise, Sakurai talked about how many faces he grew up alongside in the gaming industry aren’t there anymore. Yes, there are plenty of “big names” who have been around for years, but there are just as many who decided to leave. He even noted that some of them he legitimately doesn’t know where they ended up, likely due to them leaving before the age of cell phones and easy access to reaching out to people.
However, despite this sadness, Sakurai clarified that he didn’t think these people were “failures” for leaving the gaming industry, far from it. Some people may have accomplished everything that they wanted to do in the industry and then decided to leave, not unlike Reggie Fils-Aime of Nintendo. For others, Sakurai pointed out that they may have “found their calling” in other fields of entertainment or completely different industries. While it may sound odd that someone would want to leave video games to do something “more mundane,” it might not be “mundane” for them.
This is where the key statement came in, as Sakurai noted that he was still creating games but also making his YouTube Channel, which wasn’t something he thought of doing in the past because it wasn’t really an option for him.
Obviously, this has gotten fans to wonder if this was an admission of him being brought back in to make the next Super Smash Bros title, and he did show a small clip of the OG game when talking about his “creating games.” However, it’s not confirmed that he’s doing that, and there are other franchises that he’s noted he’s wanted to work on.
But the fact that Daddy Sakurai will continue making games is something to cheer for, as the man is really good at doing it.
