"We must change our methods": Smash Bros. director Masahiro Sakurai says game development has become "too time consuming and unsustainable"

Kirby and Super Smash Bros. creator Masahiro Sakurai has spoken about the current state of game development and why he believes it is becoming "unsustainable."

You rarely hear much about developers when it comes to Nintendo games, but Masahiro Sakurai is well known as a workaholic. From 2012 until 2021, he worked on Super Smash Bros. non-stop between the 3DS, Wii U, and Switch editions, in the midst of suffering from calcific tendonitis. And in the five months he had off in between finishing up with Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and his then-unknown next project – which was revealed to be Kirby Air Riders in the Nintendo Switch 2 Direct – he created two-and-a-half years' worth of content for a YouTube channel.

However, even Sakurai is beginning to think large-scale development is getting to be a bit wild, as we're currently in an era where it looks like developers like Naughty Dog will end up going a full console generation without a new game.

Speaking to Yahoo Japan (translated via Source Gaming), Sakurai responds to a question asking what he believes the future of the gaming market holds, saying that, "To be honest, it's hard to see what the future holds. I think we've reached a point where creating large-scale games like we do now is too time consuming and unsustainable."

He says developers must adapt to new ways of thinking: "I believe we are at a stage where we must change our methods, such as by using generative AI to improve work efficiency."

Sakurai adds, "It seems that only companies that can adapt well to these changes will survive in the coming era."

While Sakurai presents generative AI as a tool that could be used to ease game development troubles, he doesn't clarify if it's something he himself is particularly interested in using. Given how Sakurai's games typically have a ton of personal touches where you see them and think, "yep, that's a Sakurai thing," I'd be shocked if he started using the plagiarism machine.

Super Smash Bros. creator says instead of making more "Americanized works," Japanese devs should "seek the uniqueness and fun of Japanese games."