Masahiro Sakurai, well-known creator of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and president of Sora Ltd., revealed that he has been working on a new game project since April 2022. The news was shared during the final episode of his series on YouTube “Masahiro Sakurai on Creating Games”. During the episode, lasting 46 minutes, Sakurai talked about the genesis of his channel and the moment in which he began to dedicate himself to the new project. He explained that all the video material uploaded up to that final episode had been recorded over two and a half years earlier, therefore dating back to a period before the launch of his channel.
Sakurai recalled that in July 2021 he was busy creating downloadable content for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, including creating the video for “Mr. Sakurai Presents: Kazuya”. At the same time, he was also working on the character Sora, the fighter in the game based on Kingdom Hearts. During this period of intense work, he was asked to create a proposal for a new game, which he quickly completed. While he couldn’t share specific details about the project, Sakurai expressed hope that it will be announced in the future. In October 2021, Sakurai’s work commitments on Smash Bros. ended. However, it had already received approval to start production on the new game, although it would take some time to assemble the right team. The goal was to start production in April 2022.
Sakurai reflected on how, for the first time in his career, he had a long break between projects, a rare circumstance for game directors, who typically jump from game to game non-stop. This unexpected period offered him the opportunity to dedicate himself to other activities, such as the creation of his YouTube channel. Despite the temptation to take a well-deserved vacation, Sakurai decided to use that time to plan and launch his channel. Finally, Sakurai confirmed that production on the new game actually began in April 2022, meaning that over two years have passed since work began. While he did not reveal further details, he hinted that the official announcement of the game could take place soon.
