Nintendo announces new studio, Sakurai at the helm
Nintendo and Masahiro Sakurai – who is best known for his work on Super Smash Bros. Brawl – announced the creation of a new company, Project Sora. The studio has been founded in Tokyo and officially launched on January 22. Project Sora is expected to have around thirty staff members in all.
The company has not begun work on a project yet, but is expected to do so in May. Programmers, 3D character and map production staff, sound effect staff, and game planners are all being looked for.
The Project Sora website describes the game as “The thoughts of game designer Masahiro Sakurai and Nintendo have become one, and a new project has started. In order to expand what can be offered to the world through games, we will have Nintendo’s full cooperation and make something that Nintendo could not do on its own.”
More details:
– The game is “A new experiment, both for Mr. Sakurai and for Nintendo” – Iwata
– Iwata has given Sakurai special orders for the project
– Sakurai cannot discuss content of the game yet
– “We’ve started a special project. We’re not sure how it will sell or if it will be accepted. Our goal is not just to make a single game. We can promise that you’ll be able to experience something different.” – Sakurai
– Studio located in new building, has no columns so that devs can see each other
– Iwata says dev studio became crowded during the high times of development for Smash Bros.
– No word on platform/specific content
