With one “special finale” to follow.
Image credit: Masahiro Sakurai
Super Smash Bros. creator Masahiro Sakurai has announced he’ll be wrapping up his acclaimed YouTube series Creating Games on 15th October, bringing his regular video uploads to an end.
Sakurai launched his YouTube channel back in August 2022, with the aim of helping “make games around the world a little more fun”. His Creating Games series, available in both Japanese and English, saw Sakurai sharing his decades of expertise on “good” or “fun” game design, and was intended to be as accessible as possible.
Since then, Sakurai has uploaded an impressive 265 videos for his Creating Games series, covering everything from UI design and tips for using audio to marketing and work ethic. It is, in other words, an incredible resource from a world-renowned designer, and it’s popped out more than a few gems of wisdom and fascinating tidbits along the way.
Back in 2023, for instance, Sakurai shared the frankly upsetting news a follow-up to Kid Icarus: Uprising was “unlikely”, and he more recently jokingly apologised to Smash Bros. players for the “hundreds or even thousands of hours” they’d poured into the series thanks to his design.
But all good things must come to an end, and – following advanced warning of Creating Games’ impending demise earlier this year – Sakurai has now confirmed the series is expected to end on 15th October. Of course, all existing videos will remain available, and Sakurai has teased “a special finale episode to come afterward”, with more details to be shared in the future.
As to what’s next for Sakurai after his YouTube series ends, he hasn’t explicitly said. However, comments made by the designer last year suggest he’s returning to Smash Bros. “What happens next time?” he pondered in one of his videos at the time. “I mean whatever comes after Smash Bros. Ultimate. One option would be to separate the series from the original creator. But for now, at least, I can’t really imagine a Smash Bros. title without me.”
“Smash Bros. is a massive, important title for Nintendo, so it’s fair to assume there will be another one at some point, but it’s going to take some work to figure out exactly how to make that happen. For my part, I’d like to keep working with Nintendo however I’m able.”
