Kirby Air Riders for the Switch 2 was recently released. Since there are no plans for DLC or a sequel, it would seem that the development team has been disbanded.
As such, it’s reasonable to assume that Masahiro Sakurai has already begun work on his next game project. Notably, Sakurai was able to whip up the game proposal for Kirby Air Riders at “lightning speed” while also juggling work for Tekken guest Kazuya and Sora from Kingdom Hearts for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as DLC.
Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa has recently promised to enhance the “ownership value” of the Switch 2 with a “robust software lineup” after Nintendo announced that the price of the Switch 2 would be rising from $449.99 to $499.99 in September 2026. Notably, many gamers were already displeased with the $449.99 price point.
“We will prepare a robust software lineup to enhance the Switch 2 ownership value. We will work diligently to overcome this barrier.” — Shuntaro Furukawa
“We will prepare a robust software lineup to enhance the Switch 2 ownership value,” said Furukawa on the matter. “We will work diligently to overcome this barrier.”
A sequel to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate on the Switch 2 might be inline with this promise. Of course, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is known to be the best-selling game in the entire franchise.
The latest sales figures have indicated that Smash Ultimate has surpassed the 37.76 million sales milestone. This makes it the third most successful game on the Switch after Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (71.08 million sales) and Animal Crossing: New Horizons (49.91 million sales).
Could the next Super Smash Bros. proceed without Sakurai’s direct involvement? It would seem that Sakurai himself doesn’t believe so. He talked about this during one of his Famitsu Columns (translated by Source Gaming).
“And at the very least, I don’t see any way for Smash Bros. to be produced without my involvement.” — Masahiro Sakurai
“As is the case with many series, it’s important to consider whether there is someone who can take over when the original creator is no longer around. The other day, Takao Saito, the creator of “Golgo 13,” passed away, and it was announced that work would continue on the production,” said Sakurai.
“But the decision might have been different if it was a manga like Berserk. The more a work depends on its authorship, the more difficult it is to ensure its continuation. And at the very least, I don’t see any way for Smash Bros. to be produced without my involvement.
“For example, the Challenger Approaching trailers would not have the same level of quality if it was produced entirely by an outside firm.”
For better or worse, Sakurai has not been teaching anyone how to produce a title within the Super Smash Bros. franchise along the way. This suggests that Sakurai is currently the only person in the world with the skillset to oversee such a project.
“As is the case with many series, it’s important to consider whether there is someone who can take over when the original creator is no longer around.” — Masahiro Sakurai
“Also, it’s not as if some staff member has been accumulating the know-how of Smash Bros,” continued Sakurai. “It would also be difficult to capture the essence of various game titles and combine them into a spec document.”
Not only would Sakurai have to be involved with the project, but he’d also have to act as its director. Nobody else has ever taken on the duties that he has for the series.
“For starters, no one other than me has ever served as the director or planned the inclusion of new fighters. Given these conditions, I have to seriously consider whether or not the game will succeed if I entrust the job to them.”
Of course, this is a heavy workload even for Sakurai. He’s adamant that he’d rather leave it to someone else, but he knows that if he isn’t the one to do it, then the Super Smash Bros. series will be unable to continue.
“Given these conditions, I have to seriously consider whether or not the game will succeed if I entrust the job to them.” — Masahiro Sakurai
“To be honest, I’d rather leave it to someone else because it’s very hard for me. I’ve actually tried, but it didn’t work out.
“I may be able to find someone who can make improvements here and there, but I don’t have a clue who would be able to create content from nothing [in the same quality].
“If the series is to continue, there will have to be a back and forth between me and Nintendo to discuss what form it should take to be successful.”
This has been a problem for the Super Smash Bros. series for a long time now.
“To be honest, I’d rather leave it to someone else because it’s very hard for me. I’ve actually tried, but it didn’t work out.” — Masahiro Sakurai
Back in 2005, Satoru Iwata, the President of Nintendo at the time, accidentally “announced” that a new Super Smash Bros. would be coming out for the Wii. In truth, however, development had not yet started on such a project.
Sakurai had already left HAL Laboratory (and Nintendo) back in 2003. Despite this, Iwata saw no way for Super Smash Bros. for the Wii to be anything more than a port of the GameCube’s Super Smash Bros. Melee with online capabilities without Sakurai as the project’s director.
Needless to say, Iwata went out of his way to recruit Sakurai for a director role for the new project. Thankfully, Sakurai was willing to set aside other arrangements to make this happen.
Of course, the Super Smash Bros. series has only become more and more dependent on its creator, Masahiro Sakurai, since then. Needless to say, Sakurai would absolutely need to be involved in the next iteration as well.
