- Series director Masahiro Sakurai recently talked about Super Smash Bros.’s future
- He said he’s not convinced the franchise could get any bigger than Ultimate
- He also could not imagine another Smash title without his personal involvement
“Now that Smash Bros. has grown to be monstrous in size, I’d say it’s difficult to imagine an increase of this magnitude,” explained Masahiro Sakurai in a recent video.
Smash Director Discusses Ultimate
It’s safe to say that Super Smash Bros. Ultimate has had a huge impact on fighting games. Over the past five years since it was released for the Nintendo Switch, the game has seen many tournaments, big and small, producing epic fights the world over.
However, despite SSB Ultimate becoming a staple in both the franchise and the fighting game sphere in general, some wonder if there will soon be a sequel. Some even say there might not be another game that can surpass Ultimate, and this seemingly includes the series’ director Masahiro Sakurai.
In his latest video on creating video games, Sakurai talked about how he doesn’t really see how the popular fighting game franchise can get any bigger than that. He explained how the game has grown over the years and has added almost every character and stage they could ever want in a fighting game. These include names like Banjo-Kazooie, to Heihachi Mishima from Tekken, and even Sora from Kingdom Hearts.
The game dev admitted that he’s skeptical about the development team creating another Super Smash Bros. title that goes above and beyond what Ultimate did. He also explained that his team added more and more content even though they had to go through strenuous circumstances during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“As for what comes next for the Smash Bros. series, even I’m not sure,” Sakurai said. “I feel we truly succeeded in making people happy with this game, but now that Smash Bros. has grown to be monstrous in size, I’d say it’s difficult to imagine an increase of this magnitude happening again.”
He also explained that every time the team made a game, he thought it was impossible. However, expectations were always surpassed so he can’t say for certain there won’t be another hit Smash Bros. that could be better than Ultimate.
One factor that also makes Sakurai skeptical that there will be another such title is the fact he can’t imagine there being such a game without his involvement. “I mean whatever comes after Super Smash Bros. Ultimate,” he has been noted saying in an older video. “One option would be to separate the series from its original creator, but for now, at least, I can’t imagine a Smash Bros. title without me.”
Last, but certainly not least, there are external factors that might influence if there will be another Super Smash Bros. game or not. Nintendo recently announced new community tournament guidelines which will have an impact on the competitive Smash scene. Although it’s still early to say what the effect would be, it should not be put out of the question, that it could have a negative impact on any potential new Smash game.
Whatever the case, Smash fans will simply have to wait and see if Nintendo would announce another title and if that game would be better than the current franchise flagship.
