Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Director Says He's "Semi-Retired"

In 2021, development on Super Smash Bros. Ultimate officially came to an end following the release of the Nintendo Switch game's final DLC fighter. It seems director Masahiro Sakurai has been enjoying the time off, as he recently told Denfaminicogamer that he now considers himself "semi-retired." Sakurai worked on the Smash Bros. series for about nine years straight, jumping directly from the Wii U/3DS versions straight into Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Sakurai told the website that the process of making video games takes so much that he worried continuing to make game after game would ensure that his "life will be over in no time."

Naturally this raises a lot of questions about the future of Super Smash Bros.! Sakurai has been with the series since the very first game, and his videos for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate have made him one of the industry's most recognized faces. In the interview, Sakurai seems to relish his role as the "boss" of Smash Bros., and the way it allows him to work on characters and content spanning the entire video game industry. Given that, it's hard not to imagine he'll be back for the next game, but when that will actually happen remains to be seen.

With the exception of ports, no Nintendo system has ever played host to two Super Smash Bros. games. As such, we probably won't see a new game in the series until the Switch's successor is released, whenever that might be! Nintendo has made no announcements about a new console just yet, and the continued success of the Switch makes it seem like we'll be waiting until 2024, at the earliest. When the system does get revealed, it's a safe bet that a new Super Smash Bros. game won't be far behind.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is available exclusively on Nintendo Switch. Readers can check out all of our previous coverage of the game right here.

What do you want to see in a new Super Smash Bros. game? Do you think Sakurai will stay with the series? Let us know in the comments or share directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp to talk all things gaming!

[H/T: Nintendo Everything]