Masahiro Sakurai giving some thought to early retirement
There’s no question that Masahiro Sakurai is a veteran developer of the games industry. He’s been working on various projects for nearly three decades, and has contributed to some major IPs. Of course, he’ll always be recognized for his involvement in Kirby and Super Smash Bros.
There are some early leaks from Sakurai’s column in this week’s Famitsu, and he delves into what lies ahead in the future. As for that column which been ongoing since 2003, he would likely be ending it “this year at the latest.”
When it comes to retirement, Sakurai wrote that he started thinking about that during Golden Week and he’s thought about his life after creating video games. Sakurai said that he has a “certain fondness” towards the idea of early retirement.
He said:
“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.”
Going back to his Famitsu column, it could come to a close once the DLC for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is all wrapped up. It may very well end “within this year” after the final fighters are out.
Sakurai does ultimately say at the end of the column that it “doesn’t mean that he won’t be involved in game-related work in the future.”
