Smash Bros. Director Masahiro Sakurai Faints at Gym

Masahiro Sakurai has not always been the best at self-care. The legendary Super Smash Bros. Ultimate director has openly discussed in the past the crazy hours he works to ensure the highest quality of the series, as well as some other physical ailments he's suffered as a result of his workload, such as tendinitis. While Sakurai clearly does place the needs of fans well before himself, he also seems fairly committed to fitness. In a recent column for Weekly Famitsu (translated by Kotaku), Sakurai talked about his fitness regimen, but in the process, he also revealed how he recently suffered from a blackout at the gym due to dehydration and exhaustion.

"Thus, the other after day after going to the gym for the first time in a while, I blacked out in the bathing area, losing consciousness for a few seconds and consequently falling down. This bad situation was the combination of being tired and dehydrated, and that's very dangerous and something I need to be careful of..."

Sakurai takes the Smash Bros. series quite seriously, devoting himself to a good chunk of the development process, rather than delegating the responsibilities to other members of the team. He's also known for not taking very many holidays. While crunch is a very real problem in the video game industry, it would seem that the problem doesn't stem from forced overtime, but Sakurai's own desire to make the best product possible. His dedication is certainly admirable to a degree, but it's hard not to worry about the director's health, when he's clearly pushing himself too hard. No video game is worth that.

The final fighter in the first Fighters Pass, Byleth, was released in January, with a second Fighters Pass announced prior. All five of the fighters in the first DLC set released within about a year of one another. According to Nintendo, the second Fighters Pass for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate will have a longer wait time for players, with the fighters paced out a bit more than in the previous offering. Hopefully, the increased development time will translate to more time for Sakurai to get the rest he clearly could use!

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