Masahiro Sakurai

Lore & Background

Masahiro Sakurai was born on August 3, 1970, in Musashimurayama, Tokyo, Japan. One of his earliest experiences in the video game industry began when he worked for HAL Laboratory, where he created the character Kirby at age 19 and directed his first title, Kirby's Dream Land. Sakurai left HAL on August 5, 2003, explaining in an interview with Nintendo Dream that he felt it would be difficult to create new projects while staying at HAL due to the direction of the gaming industry, where the risk of failure was high. He noted increasing tension within the industry: 'It was tough for me to see that every time I made a new game, people automatically assumed that a sequel was coming. Even if it's a sequel, lots of people have to give their all to make a game, but some people think the sequel process happens naturally.' Soon after, he began working on a project with Q Entertainment, along with Tetsuya Mizuguchi, which resulted in Meteos in 2005, a puzzle game for the Nintendo DS. On September 30, 2005, Sakurai announced that he had formed his own company, Sora Ltd. In issue #885 of Famitsu magazine, Sakurai revealed that he would be serving as a director and game designer on Super Smash Bros. Brawl for the Wii. Super Smash Bros. Brawl was released in 2008, after personnel borrowed from 19 different developer studios assisted in development. Sakurai had been updating daily the Super Smash Bros Brawl website called the Smash Bros. Dojo, starting a year before release, revealing Brawl secrets and gameplay content through the site. The Smash Bros. Dojo had regular updates from May 22, 2007, to April 14, 2008. On the final day of updates, it was revealed that Sakurai provided the voice for King Dedede in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. He and his company, Sora Ltd., alongside Nintendo, started a first-party studio, Project Sora, which was 72% owned by Nintendo and 28% owned by Sora Ltd. It was revealed at E3 2010 that Sakurai and Project Sora were working on Kid Icarus: Uprising for the Nintendo 3DS. Project Sora was closed and ended development on June 30, 2012. At E3 2011, Nintendo announced that Sakurai was working on Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U. Sakurai began development of the title upon the release of Kid Icarus: Uprising in March 2012.

Reader's Guide

The Super Smash Bros. series began with the original game on the Nintendo 64, directed by Sakurai. He then directed Super Smash Bros. Melee, Super Smash Bros. Brawl (released in 2008 after assistance from 19 developer studios), Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U (development began after Kid Icarus: Uprising's release in March 2012), and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (released in 2018). Sakurai provided the voice of King Dedede in Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards and the Super Smash Bros. series. He updated the Smash Bros. Dojo website daily from May 22, 2007, to April 14, 2008, revealing Brawl secrets and gameplay content. Sakurai's philosophy emphasizes accessibility without compromising depth, as seen in his educational YouTube channel where he discusses basic principles of game design. His career has been marked by physical challenges—in February 2013 he was diagnosed with calcific tendinitis near his right shoulder—and he has expressed doubts about continuing due to stress. Despite this, he continues to direct and design, with Super Smash Bros. Ultimate being the latest entry in the series.

Did You Know?

• Sakurai wrote and recorded all 256 videos for his YouTube channel himself before beginning work on Kirby Air Riders in April 2022.
• The total production cost of his YouTube channel was ¥90,000,000, which he paid entirely out of pocket without monetizing it.