Masahiro Sakurai, the director of the Smash Bros. franchise was featured in the latest issue of the Japanese magazine, Famitsu. There, he discussed the future regarding the franchise past Ultimate. He did tackle some rather hot button questions that do have fans wondering what is next for the creator of Kirby and Smash Bros.
Sakurai has a bi-weekly column that he’d have published in Famitsu. As he spoke on the future of the Smash Bros. franchise, this also marked the end of his column contributions to the magazine. Nothing was really set in stone for the future, but it does paint a rather uncertain future for the successful platform fighter.
When asked what’s next in terms of projects, he stated “I’m not thinking about the sequel…But I can’t say that this is the last Smash Bros.” It’s perhaps a question that may be too soon to be asked, given that Sora had just been released for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate just a few weeks ago.
He further added that in the possibility of releasing another Smash Bros. game, there’s a “risk of disappointing the users.” Later on, he did discuss that the series could not continue without his involvement.
It seems that the game’s future is facing a lot of design and possible feedback constraints. The game has broken sales records with every new iteration, especially Ultimate. With each iteration came a bunch of new characters and internet-breaking reveals.
To end his final column, he spoke about wanting people to forget about him just enough to get out of the limelight. Honestly, we can’t blame him for wanting some peace away from the ravenous nature of toxic gamers.
Masahiro Sakurai’s words regarding the game’s future are all these we have all somewhat known would eventually come out. His quote regarding disappointing users resonates heavily with a lot of popular figures in the gaming industry. The man could never post anything on social media without people running wild with speculation, creating fake leaks and prompting discussions that usually ended with toxicity.
ファミ通コラムが今週号で最終回!!
その関係で､発売となる木曜まで､過去コラムを1日2話ずつ公開してくれるそうです｡
今回のお話は…
後半で山ほど連ねられるタイトルが2005年のものであること以外は､いまも通じるのではないかなあと｡ https://t.co/CmFCbD203W— 桜井 政博 / Masahiro Sakurai (@Sora_Sakurai) November 1, 2021
This toxicity runs rampant in the fighting game community. Other large figureheads in the industry like Ed Boon of NetherRealm Studios and Katsuhiro Harada of Bandai Namco face so much scrutiny for their social media presences. They can post things that are completely irrelevant to their works and there will be people demanding that their favorite character from their respective fighting game franchises be put in.
The same went for Sakurai. When he posted a picture of himself creating the number 3 with his hand for the upcoming Byleth reveal, fan speculation went wild. People assumed his indication of the number three meant that Dante from Devil May Cry would be added into Super Smash Bros. Ultimate just because that Nintendo Direct presentation was held on the same day that a Devil May Cry 3 announcement was on the same day. Fans were livid that it wasn’t Dante, let alone a Fire Emblem character took the spot for DLC.
As for now, we’ll just have to wait and see what is next in store for Masahiro Sakurai.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is out exclusively for the Nintendo Switch.
