Masahiro Sakurai Confirms He's Working On A New Game

God is going to bestow us with another miracle. We are saved!!

I’ve enjoyed most of his work so far, so I’m curious to find out what he’s been cooking.

I just really dislike that achievement tile system he often puts inside his games, like Kirby’s Air Ride, Kid Icarus Uprising and Smash Bros. It’s so grindy.

My guess is the new Smash Bros, but hard to say since he seemed to be looking for a team.

I'd love a new Kirby game by Sakurai himself, but I doubt it. This project seemed to have gotten it's team just one month after Kirby and the Forgotten Land though. He technically could be remaking one of the games he worked on, that'd be pretty cool.

Well, there's three options, from the way I see it:
1. Smash for the Switch successor
2. A new Kid Icarus game
3. Something completely new

While I'm a big fan of Smash, I would prefer it to be option 3.

I'd love him to another Kid Icarus or have a crack at StarTropics

@Anti-Matter you dont like everything

Whatever it is, he’s built an unprecedented amount of trust that’s bound to ensure he has enough funding from Nintendo to pursue what he believes is the best fit for the organization. He’s the Anti-Peter Molyneux.

Talking about the actual video for a moment: this was a nice finale, a good way to see just how much actually want into making this channel. It's amazing how Sakurai and co. were able to get all of these videos out given the context.

What he said at the end about his time and legacy was interesting, and a reminder about how ephemeral life can be.

I haven't seen every video made but the ones I have were greatly insightful, even with their short runtimes.

Whatever Mr. Sakurai puts out next, I'll probably enjoy the heck out of it - especially now knowing what really went into it.

I'm off out to copyright Super Duper Smash Bros. Ultimate.

If it's Sakurai's proposal then I doubt it's Smash Bros. Regarding that series, I'm sure Nintendo approach him with a proposal. As much as the videos have been great and well presented, I do feel Sakurai often has to make a martyr of himself. Whether it's burn out, RSIs, staying up late, paying for the videos out of his own pocket, etc. We get it, you're dedicated to your art. We've known that for a long time now. Get some sleep.

Kid Icarus Uprising 2 + a remastered version of Uprising 1 please

I'm really hoping for something new and exciting. I'm all for the obvious Kid Icarus Uprising remake, or a new entry in Smash further down the line, but I rather let him cook something fresh that might take advantage of the pending new hardware. Either way, so long as he puts his mental and physical health first, that's what's important.

I think they will just rerelease Smash Bros Ultimate for Switch successor, with couple more characters. I mean, what is there to add that can significantly change the formula?
He is working on a new IP, and my bet is on something in a relax/puzzle genre that people will appreciate but ultimately won't play because it won't be based on an existing IP.

I didn't know he made zero financial gain from his channel. The fact he's doing this for the future of the industry has a lot of my respect.

"he confirmed that the YouTube channel wound up costing a total of 90 million yen (just under $600,000), with no monetary return for the creator. Instead, Sakurai viewed it as an investment for the future of the video game industry, where developers and fans alike can deepen their understanding of game creation."

What excuse me? God that man is a saint. What kind of insanity does it require for a guy to be that selfless in that industry and in that day and age. The best kind that's what.

I mean I knew he was exceptional but we truly have the next iwata right there. Right in line to perpetuate the long history of incredible game creators at nintendo.

Wow, I’m grateful for Sakurai and his YouTube channel. Costing nearly $600,000 worth of effort, it gives us great insight into game development, and isn’t monetized.

Thank you Sakurai. We need more people like him in game development. And as always friends, Iwata for life!

Man, I'd really love to see a remaster of Kid Icarus Uprising on Switch. They could call it "Kid Icarus Uprising: Resurrected." Hades is one of, if not, my favorite Nintendo characters. As an animation buff, I really appreciate all the seasoned voice actors in the game like Hynden Walsch who does Princess Bubblegum in Adventure Time and Starfire in Teen Titans. The production value around the board is just so high, and the game would look stunning on a 4k TV display with all the modern bells and whistles. It's easily my favorite 3DS game.

I'd also love to see a new Smash Bros. for Nintendo's next console too, of course. I don't want them to reboot the series like some people have suggested; I'd be gutted if they cut the roster to like 20 characters and made it 3D or something. In the Ask Iwata book, there's a quote from Satoru Iwata where he says that although he doesn't necessarily think quantity always equals quality, he thinks Smash Bros. is a notable exception where having more content is what the fans want and expect.

I think the next Smash Bros. game should just be a continuation of Ultimate. An enhanced port but with graphical improvements, new modes, new features, and--of course--new characters and stages. I think they should take Ultimate and completely cut out the Spirits, meaning World of Light remains exclusive to the Switch game. They could replace it with a whole new story mode with lots of cutscenes, bosses, and platforming levels reminiscent of the Subspace Emissary. Trophies could be brought back in lieu of Spirits since so much of the core content like character movesets could mostly just be ported over. But fix the coloration of some of the character models, like how Mario looks like a grey old man in pink clothes.

They could bring back the handful of stages that didn't make the cut in Ultimate like Rainbow Road, Mute City, Pokéfloats, Pac-Maze, The Great Fox, Orbital Gate Assault, Jungle Hijynks, etc. In addition, they could make unique Target Smash stages for each of the characters again. And, of course, the long-awaited return of Smash Run from the 3DS!

As far as characters go, there's still tons of first-party and third-party fighters Nintendo could add. For third-parties, you've got some of my most-wanted fighters like Crash Bandicoot, Rayman, Spyro, and Ms
Pac-Man. But beyond that, they could add other gaming icons like Master Chief, Lara Croft, Tracer from Overwatch, a Fortnite rep, Shovel Knight, Shantae, Chun-Li, Tails, Knuckles, Shadow, Dr. Eggman, Okami Amaterasu, Professor Layton, Phoenix Wright, Bomberman, Aiai... the sky's the limit. For first-parties, you've got Waluigi, Pauline, Toad/Toadette, any number of possible Zelda reps (Impa, Tetra / Toon Zelda, Ghirahim, Midna, Skull Kid, Tingle), a gen 7/8 Pokémon rep, the protagonist from the newest Xenoblade and Fire Emblem games, Isaac, Peppy Hare, the Ring Fit trainee, and probably a lot more I'm not thinking of.

I'd also love to see new stages based on Tetris, Dr. Mario, Katamari Damacy (maybe the prince could be an assist trophy), Chemical Plant Zone, Casino Night Zone, Cuphead, and Little Nightmares, just to name a few ideas.

(continued...)

PLUS, there's a lot of palette swaps they could give us that would effectively add even more characters. Like Brittany, Charlie, and Louie could all be alts for Olimar along with Alph. Link should have an alternate costume for each of his different iterations with unique hairstyles to match (OoT, Twilight Princess, Skyward Sword, BotW). And I'd love Deluxe Mii costumes with music for more characters, like Hat Kid from A Hat in Time.

It just baffles me when people say Smash has already peaked and there's nothing left they could add that would top Sora's inclusion. Like... Nintendo could break the internet again, and again, and again, and again. If all this content gets cut in the next game, the hype is gonna be so much lower.

Didn't he say he was done with Smash Bros?

I would guess it's a new franchise, but any of the options are great.

Takamaru and Tin Star: Escape from Guantanamo Bay

How about a return to the Star Fox concept that evolved into Kid Icarus Uprising?

What mad lad - 30 episodes recorded in a row, only to flush them all cos he didn't check the recording output. Just having the will to start again is somewhat superhuman.

@mlt Took the words right out of my keyboard.
What an outstanding series from an outstanding individual, thank you Sakurai for sharing your valuable wisdom with us, now please just don't drive yourself to exhaustion with your next project!

It's Side Scroller. A game where you have to scroll through the level using the Switch 2's Hall Effect Shoulder Scroller Buttons.

@SearchingS that's not true, he likes 3rd party licensed kids games made on a 5 dollar budget

heres hoping for an uprising remaster!

Kid Icarus, of course (I’m delusional)

It will be something awesome, that much is a given.

Kid Icarus please

Smash is an easy bet but I'd really interested to see what a Kirby game would look like from him these days.

Alternatively, I would also get excited for Kid Icarus game or something completely new.

Super Smash Bros 6 is already in development? poor Sakurai shacked on Super Smash Bros forever.

Maybe a version of smash with all dlc fighters included for Switch 1 and 2.

Smash Ultimate DX with all DLC, all stages from all previous games, Smash Run!, Adventure mode in a melee game mode, a few brand new characters, other modes, who knows...

and whatever else we can toss in this kitchen sink version. Gameplay is slick and how much better can it get?

Upgraded graphics and rollback netcode and Smash as a series could basically conclude after that.

What if its Mario Kart 9? But with Smash characters?

Exactly the day I dusted out my 3DS XL to try, FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME... Kid Icarus Uprising.

A game that has been dormant in my backlog for more than ten years !

And it's pure magic. I can't believe how good this game is.

You immediately notice the similarities with the Smash Bros franchise : the UI is sick, everything pops out of the screen, but more importantly... the game is fun.

Sakurai really seems to know how to design a really fun game, the kind that truly entertains you.

Can't wait for his next project ! (and this one won't go onto that evil backlog).

I'd love to see a brand new IP developed from Sakurai.

He's working on a QWOP prequel.

Kid Icarus retuuuuuuuurns!!!

İ think it is a new Super Smash Bros game.
İt can be something new too. A full new game.
İ say there is two choose 1 a new Super Smash Bros game, 2 a full new game not Kirby or Kid İcarus. A full new game but İ think it will be a new Super Smash Bros game.
Nintendo Switch 2 can not be without a new Super Smash Bros game. There must be a Super Smash Bros game.

Every Nintendo console had 1 Super Smash Bros game from N64.

Great video, great game developer.
as for the proposal: I have no clue.
I don't have many thoughts about it:

• Smash Bros kind of felt like it ended for a while with Ultimate,
• Kirby has been... weird lately when it comes to a release schedule, and I don't think Sakurai has worked on it for a while, since Air Ride, right? or am I remembering wrong?
• Not big on Kid Icarus (potential yet), so No opinion there.
• Never heard of Metoes.
• I have a feeling it's "something else", because Sakurai has been working really hard on Smash Bros (well, when he did), on Kirby (when he did), and other things I guess, so during those times, he might have had a new idea. Plus, why else would he share a proposal for a new game. and new games and ideas are always great, especially from the creator of Kirby, just look how great that did!

Imma be real, I don't think sakurai would be the one writing the pitch for the next smash game. I think this has got to be a fully original project of some sort.

Sakurai has emphasized the importance of Smash Bros throughout several of his YouTube videos, the chances that this new game isn't the next Smash Bros title is very, very slim.

@westman98 kinda hard not to do that when he has been in the Smash bros mines for more than a decade.

Well..

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is the third best selling Nintendo Switch game of all time with 34.66 million copies sold:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_Nintendo_Switch_video_games

I would not be very surprised if Nintendo have asked Sakurai to make a sequel for Switch 2, nor very surprised if Sakurai said yes.

He sleeps as much as former (maybe also next) President Donald Trump, and Elon Musk. Maybe he needs Alarmo? Lol

What if, Nintendo were to do a remake of Melee, similar to The Thousand-Year Door? While the Switch could probably handle high-level emulation of the PowerPC GameCube, it would take some very good file compression technology to prevent even a hypothetical small NSO library of GCN titles from eating up much of the Switch internal memory.

I hope option 3. But also option one.
Only for option one i want it to be DLC for smash ultimate. And besides that something new.

Well, that would be Smash Ultimater of course! I hope that this time he allows more work out of his hands and into other hands. You don't have to do everything, Sakurai! You have a massive team to back you up. Stay healthy!

Glad he's still developing games, though hopefully he's not working himself to death anymore. I still have about a year's worth of videos to catch up on. I'd probably have them on all the time as background noise if only I knew japanese.

The obvious guess for his next game is more Smash Bros, though my personal choice would be Kid Icarus. Uprising deserves a proper sequel, or at least a remaster. There's also a decent chance he's just off working on some other obscure project. Whatever it is, I'll be sure to keep an eye on it. The guy doesn't make bad games.

PLEASE BE KID ICARUS, PLEASE BE KID ICARUS, PLEASE BE KID ICARUS, PLEASE BE KID ICARUS, PLEASE BE KID ICARUS, PLEASE BE KID ICARUS, PLEASE BE KID ICARUS, PLEASE BE KID ICARUS, PLEASE BE KID ICARUS, PLEASE BE KID ICARUS, PLEASE BE KID ICARUS, PLEASE BE KID ICARUS, PLEASE BE KID ICARUS, PLEASE BE KID ICARUS, PLEASE BE KID ICARUS, PLEASE BE KID ICARUS, PLEASE-

It's Super Smash Sisters!

Also I didn't know he was behind Meteos

I hope it isn't the next Smash, and that someone who actually appreciates and will incorporate rollback netcode is the one in charge of that.

"Something New" is winning on the survey? Hahahaha. I do believe it's Smash. The thing is, he was already been in full production of that mistery game since April 2022, so, whatever it is, it's obviously a game for Nintendo, and, will launch on the second year of the OZ, tops.

Ideally and personally I would love to see a KI Uprising remaster but realistically? Can't see it being anything else then Smash.

Putting all that aside now, this whole finale special was very pleasant to watch and seeing all that hard work for the series is a reminder of the reasons why "Masahiro Sakurai on Creating Games" became one of my favorite Youtube channels ever.

Maria Kart 8 Reluxe

Smash inspired Mario Kart game, with new racers and tracks being added on a regular basis. Mainly the Smash roster and a few surprises.

Imagine Lara Croft riding Cloud’s motorcycle through Hyrule.

Didn't realize it costed him that much to post these videos and as someone who watched it for entertainment I can appreciate the hard work he put into it.

As for a new game I think it's safe to guess Smash Bros since it makes the most money. Kirby I don't think he's worked on those games in a long time despite being the creator. Kid Icarus I would love to see that get another chance.

I kinda feel like it’s going to be something new, but i voted Kid Icarus just cuz i want it so bad.

Come on, it’s smash we all know it.

Probably a cool Indie. Nothing huge.

Other people commented on it already, but it is unbelievable that he spent such an huge amount of money to make these videos knowing he would get nothing back. Absolute legend.

@RupeeClock He said both Brawl and Kid Icarus have been his most ambitious projects in terms of scope. Considering the length of Kid Icarus and the Subspace Emissary it makes sense.

I just want a new Smash Bros. game with more epic characters, like Waluigi and Akechi.

Hopefully not a smash bro’s game as I don’t like those.
Something new please!

My guess is Kid Icarus. Since Nintendo killed the 3DS eshop in 2023, they've been delving deeper into 3DS territory for Switch like LM2 and DKC Returns (Switch port gets the 3DS exclusive levels) so I could see a Kid Icarus Uprising remaster happen to prepare people for a new game.

Smash could do with a longer rest til the next game otherwise it will go stale. If some switch OG games inc smash get a boost in performance / DLSS up to 4k on Switch 2 maybe the next mainline Smash can launch the switch 3. There’ll be an huge appetite then. I’m hoping this new game is something totally new. And I’m hoping he’s given the space, freedom and time to perfect it to match his vision. The guy is a living legend.

His connection to Nintendo and Iwata inevitably will connect him to Smash probably for the rest of his career. But I can't help but think he's at least made an attempt to cook-up something original as of late. He's a really good developer so I look forward to original output.

@8bit-Man Oh wow. I love it as I feel like it gives me more to do though it can get frustrating towards the end with the tasks that feel impossible.

@CFarris419 Yes, in the beginning it’s good fun. But towards the end they tend to become so hard or grindy that it’s just a bit too much for me.

Although I do respect it when a developer has certain signature elements you can always find in their games. Same as the way he structures the menus. They may not be the most convenient to navigate, but they are sure visually striking and memorable.

My bet is on Smash, and if not, it's something he's never worked on before. Either a completely new IP, or an existing one with some huge spin.

Whatever it is, I'm sure it's going to be amazing. Sakurai has been my favorite game director for quite some time, what he does is just incredible. I can't wait.

I'm not convinced it's Smash Bros., the way he said the assembly took place after completion of Ultimate's DLC makes me think it's something else. If it were Smahs related, he probably would've asked to continue with his team at Bandai Namco.

Regardless of what it is, I'm sure it'll be a good game.

Now I think of Sakurai as a human version of Chibi-Robo.

The dream would be a brand new AAA IP! Preferably conceived for Nintendo of course 😋

But anything brand new, whether it's small or medium sized, would be a welcome change. It's wonderful that Sakurai's focus is on the industry as a whole, but as brilliant of a creative as he is, I would love for him to write down all of his game ideas so that they can be explored in the future, lest they be lost to time and circumstance.

I personally think its Kid Icarus but imagine its like a new Smash Bros. that would be insaneeeeeee 👀

@dew12333 Amen brother!🙏🏻

More one Smash Bros. Master of Obvious.

My guess is that he's had a hand in whatever the NSO Network Playtest that Nintendo has going on right now.