Super Smash Bros. creator Masahiro Sakurai may be the mastermind behind loads of iconic games, but he doesn’t limit himself to only creating things that suit his own tastes, as he’s now gone so far as to say he’d even make something that was “the opposite” of what he likes if he had to.
In a new interview with Japanese site Nikkei Cross Trend (translated by Google, and verified with DeepL), Sakurai was asked what he thinks about when it comes to manufacturing games, and it primarily boils down to the “finished image” and “the users who will play it.”
“The job of making games is to create entertainment. However, if you are going to sell them, you have to think of it as work, not entertainment,” he explains. “That’s what it means to be a professional. Even if it’s the opposite of what I like, I’ll make it if it’s necessary.”
This does have a benefit for Sakurai, though, as he adds that he doesn’t plan games based on his own preferences but rather with the ultimate goal of making players happy.
Going back to the point he makes about envisaging the final product, he notes that having “some idea” of what a game will look like when it’s done is important, “because if you’re making one big game, it’s going to take years of time to figure out the path forward.” This is also crucial if you’re working with a team, since changing things part way through could confuse people.
Back in October last year, Sakurai revealed that in the last three years, he’d completed a proposal for a new game, which has apparently been in development since August 2022. However, he didn’t give away any details about it, and instead teased: “I’m sorry I can’t share more about this project, but assuming that we’re able to get it made, it should be announced sooner or later.”