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Masahiro Sakurai | |
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桜井 政博 | |
 Sakurai in 2021 | |
| Born | (1970-08-03)August 3, 1970 (age 54) Musashimurayama,Tokyo, Japan |
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| Spouse | Michiko Sakurai |
Masahiro Sakurai (桜井 政博,Sakurai Masahiro, born August 3, 1970) is a Japanese video game director andgame designer best known as the creator of theKirby andSuper Smash Bros. series. Apart from his work on those series, he also led the design ofMeteos in 2005 and directedKid Icarus: Uprising in 2012.
Formerly an employee ofHAL Laboratory, Sakurai left the company in 2003 and in 2005 with his wife Michiko Sakurai (also ex-HAL Laboratory) founded their companySora Ltd.[a], under which they work on a freelance basis. He was also an author of a weekly column forFamitsu magazine from 2003 to 2021, and has done voice acting work in some of his games, most notably providing the voice ofKing Dedede inKirby 64: The Crystal Shards and theSuper Smash Bros. series. From 2022 to 2024, Sakurai ran an educationalYouTube channel,Masahiro Sakurai on Creating Games, which discussed various topics in game design and his career.
Masahiro Sakurai was born on August 3, 1970, inMusashimurayama, Tokyo, Japan. One of Sakurai's earliest experiences in the video game industry began when he worked forHAL Laboratory, where he created the characterKirby at age 19 and directed his first title,Kirby's Dream Land.[1]
Sakurai left HAL on August 5, 2003. He explained in an interview withNintendo 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. While he was not being pressured by HAL to createKirby sequels, he noted increasing tension within the industry as a whole: "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."[2][3]
Soon after, Sakurai began working on a project withQ Entertainment, along withTetsuya Mizuguchi. This collaboration resulted inMeteos in 2005, a puzzle game for theNintendo DS. On September 30, 2005, Sakurai announced that he had formed his own company, Sora Ltd.[4] Two games were announced to be in development but no information on the titles had been divulged. As for the future of theSuper Smash Bros. series, Nintendo and HAL Laboratory presidentSatoru Iwata, during Nintendo'sE3 2005 press conference, promised an online iteration of the game would come to theWii.[5]
In issue #885 ofFamitsu magazine, Sakurai revealed that he would be serving as a director and game designer onSuper 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.[6] Sakurai had been updating daily theSuper Smash Bros Brawl website called the Smash Bros. Dojo. Starting a year previous the release, he revealedBrawl secrets and gameplay content through the site. The Smash Bros. Dojo had regular updates from May 22, 2007, to April 14, 2008.[7]
On the final day of updates, it was revealed that Sakurai provided the voice forKing Dedede inKirby 64: The Crystal Shards as well as Dedede inSuper 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 atE3 2010 that Sakurai and Project Sora were working onKid Icarus: Uprising for the Nintendo 3DS. Project Sora was closed and ended development on June 30, 2012.[8] AtE3 2011, Nintendo announced that Sakurai was working onSuper Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS andWii U. Sakurai began development of the title upon the release ofKid Icarus: Uprising in March 2012.[9]
In February 2013, Sakurai was diagnosed withcalcific tendinitis near his right shoulder, which caused him substantial pain whenever he moved his arm. He mentioned that this could effectively slow down his work, as he does some of hisgame testing himself.[10] Sakurai's wife, Michiko, has worked on the graphical user interface for many of his games, includingKirby Air Ride,Meteos, and theSuper Smash Bros. series.[11]
In a January 2015 column inWeekly Famitsu, Sakurai alluded to the possibility of retirement, expressing doubt that he would be able to continue making games if his career continued to be as stressful as it was.[12] In December 2015, Sakurai once again stated that he was not sure if there would be another game in theSmash Bros. series,[13] prior toSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate being released in 2018 with Sakurai once again as director.[14]
On March 14, 2022, Sakurai was awarded Best Creator byWeekly Famitsu. Sakurai also announced that he was working on a new project not related to game production.[15] In March 2025, Sakurai announced that he had been awarded theAMD Award for Lifetime Achievement.[16]
| Masahiro Sakurai on Creating Games | |||||||
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| Years active | 2022–2024 | ||||||
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| Subscribers | 596,000 (English)[17] 630,000 (Japanese)[18] | ||||||
| Total views | 20.2 million (English)[17] 63.1 million (Japanese)[18] | ||||||
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Last updated: October 22, 2024 | |||||||
Sakurai launchedMasahiro Sakurai on Creating Games, aYouTube channel in both English and Japanese in August 2022. The channel's videos are focused on game development and design as well as his career.[20][21] He stated that the channel was founded because he wanted to reach more people with his lessons after being asked tolecture at schools. Sakurai additionally noted that other venues for lessons from game developers, such as theGame Developers Conference, focused on more advanced, technical details, rather than more basic principles.[22]
Work on the channel began immediately after the release ofSora inSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate in 2021. Sakurai wrote and pre-recorded all videos before starting work on a new development project in April 2022, and contracted Hike Inc. forediting and8-4 for English localization.[23] The opening and ending jingles for the channel were composed byYuzo Koshiro.[24] Sakurai estimates that the total production cost was¥90,000,000.[23]
Less than a day after its launch, the English edition of his channel gained over 200,000 subscribers.[25] In 2023, theComputer Entertainment Supplier's Association announced that Sakurai had won the Game Design and Visual Arts awards for his channel. The association cited his efforts to share his knowledge in an easily understood manner.[26] In March 2025, Sakurai announced that he had been listed as a recipient of theAgency for Cultural Affairs' annual Art Encouragement Prize for New Artists for his work on his channel.[16]
| Title | Year | Role(s) |
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| Kirby's Dream Land | 1992 | Director, game designer |
| Kirby's Adventure | 1993 | |
| Kirby Super Star | 1996 | Director |
| Super Smash Bros. | 1999 | |
| Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards | 2000 | Voice actor (King Dedede) |
| Super Smash Bros. Melee | 2001 | Chief director |
| Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land | 2002 | |
| Kirby Air Ride | 2003 | Director |
| Kirby & the Amazing Mirror | 2004 | Special advisor |
| Meteos | 2005 | Game designer |
| Sodatete! Kouchuu Ouja Mushiking | 2006 | |
| Super Smash Bros. Brawl | 2008 | Director, voice actor (King Dedede) |
| Kid Icarus: Uprising | 2012 | Director, scenario |
| Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS andWii U | 2014 | Director, voice actor (King Dedede) |
| Super Smash Bros. Ultimate | 2018 |
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