Masahiro Sakurai began work on new game project in April 2022

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate director and Sora Ltd. president Masahiro Sakurai has been working on a new game since April 2022, he revealed during the final episode of his “Masahiro Sakurai on Creating Games” YouTube channel.

In the 46-minute finale, Sakurai explained how the YouTube channel came to be and when he began working on his next game project. According to Sakurai, “all the footage prior to this video [the finale] was recorded over two and a half years ago.”

Sakurai explained, “It was around July of 2021. I was busy working on the downloadable content for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. To be precise, I was putting together the video for ‘Mr. Sakurai Presents: Kazuya.’ Sora was in development too, of course. Oh, and by Sora, I mean the fighter. Not the company [Sora Ltd.] you may have heard of. While I was busy working on those tasks, I received a request to write a game proposal, which I finished at lightning speed. I’m sorry I can’t share more about this project, but assuming we’re able to get it made, it should be announced sooner or later.

“Then, in late October of 2021, Sora was released, and my work commitments were more or less wrapped up. There was, of course, that new game proposal I had written. I’d been given the OK to move forward with production, but it was going to take some time to assemble the right team. The target timeframe was [starting] April 2022. Until then, I would have to wait.

“Up to this point, I had always gone directly from one job to the next. Directors tend to stay involved in projects longer than anyone else. As one job approaches the finish line, you’ll often be getting ready for the next one—so you never get to rest. Yet after all these years, by some miracle… my schedule was wide open for several months straight!

“My next job was decided, and I was done getting ready for it, but the team hadn’t been assembled yet—leading to this longer-than-usual gap. What a lucky break! It was time for some fun! Maybe a trip around the world? Well, I can’t do that because of [my cat] Fukurashi. Recently, she’s started getting really lonely whenever I go out. Still, I finally had some time off. I could have used it to recharge, but I felt as though this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. So I ended up using that time to plan out this very YouTube channel.

“[By April 2022, when the channel launched] the game project I’ve mentioned had already started production, so as I’d prepared for, I had to work on both ventures at once.”

Sakurai did not share any more information about the game, but given that it started in April 2022, it has now been over two-and-a-half years since production began, so as Sakurai said—“it should be announced sooner or later.”

Watch the full finale below.

Masahiro Sakurai on Creating Games: Finale Special

English

Japanese