The Super Smash Bros. series is one of the most successful franchises in video game history. Part of that success and fame is thanks to long-running director Masahiro Sakurai. Since 1992, Sakurai has many fantastic games under the Kirby and Smash Bros. banner. He even got a swing at Kid Icarus: Uprising in 2012!
Since 2003, Sakurai was featured in a popular Famitsu column called “Think About Video Games”. In this column, he shared his many thoughts on the video game industry, as well his own creative decisions behind the making of his many games. In one of his latest columns, Sakurai describes the thought of early retirement. He describes having a “certain fondness” to the idea:
“Everything must come to an end at some point…It’s okay to work as hard as I can right now, while I can, even if it makes me very busy.”
Masahiro Sakurai
In that same column, he discusses ending the long-running column sometime this year. After the final two DLC characters are released for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, he’s calling it quits on Famitsu. Despite toying with retirement, he goes on to say it “doesn’t mean that (he) won’t be involved in game-related work in the future.”
After 30 years of non-stop labor, I wouldn’t blame the guy for retiring. He almost suffered a major injury from dehydration and exhaustion last year. Whatever Sakurai ends up doing, it will be well deserved.