With the release of the Sora DLC, bringing the long-requested Kingdom Hearts protagonist to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, development on Nintendo's groundbreaking crossover platform fighter has ended. Many have speculated that this final DLC release for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate signals the end of the series as a whole, as director Masahiro Sakurai has been vocal about the effects the development processes of the games have had on his health. In a new interview with Famitsu, Sakurai has revealed that he does not know if the series will or can continue without him.
The Super Smash Bros. series debuted in 1999 for the Nintendo 64 and quickly became a staple Nintendo franchise as a fighting game series contaning characters from almost all of Nintendo's major series', eventually expanding to include characters from third-party publishers with the introduction of Solid Snake and Sonic the Hedgehog in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Since its inception, series creator Masahiro Sakurai has remained the director for each title. In 2015, before the announcement of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Sakurai revealed that he was unsure if he would continue to direct future Super Smash Bros. titles if the development process continued to be as stressful as it was.
In 2013, Masahiro Sakurai was diagnosed with calcfic tendintis, an injury which caused him severe pain when he moved his right arm and impacted the development of Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Sakurai once also claimed that he worked while hooked to an IV drip after becoming ill due to food poisoning. This has caused some fans growing concerns over his work ethic when it comes to developing the Super Smash Bros. franchise.
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In the latest issue of Famitsu, Sakurai was asked if he could create a sequel to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, to which he responded by saying "Impossible" multiple times. Sakurai then revealed that he had not discussed the possibility of creating another title with Nintendo, "I am not thinking of a sequel. I am not thinking of it every time. However, I can’t say with certainty that this would be the end of Smash." He then reveals that he does not believe the Super Smash Bros. series could continue without him, revealing that Nintendo had once tried to hire another director for the series to unsuccessful results.
Few directors are as connected to their work as Masahiro Sakurai, to the point where when Sora was finally released for Smash Bros. Ultimate, fans managed to get "#ThankYouSakurai" trending on Twitter. It seems that many fans have already come to terms with the fact that Ultimate will likely be the final Super Smash Bros. game, unless Nintendo decides to hand the series to another developer or director going forward. Until then, it's exciting to think what Sakurai will do next, especially given his work on the beloved Nintendo 3DS game Kid Icarus: Uprising and the Kirby series.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is available now, exclusively for Nintendo Switch.
Source: Gematsu