Masahiro Sakurai, the game designer best known for creating the Super Smash Bros. and Kirby series, recently took the stage at the Famitsu 40th Anniversary Festival.
During a panel celebrating the release of his new book, "Masahiro Sakurai's Thoughts on Games: Final," he discussed his current views on retirement and how he hopes to keep contributing to the games industry in the years ahead.
The host asked whether Sakurai's thoughts on retirement had changed since he previously addressed the subject in one of his columns.
Sakurai said there are two questions he must carefully consider: "Is there still demand for my work?" and "Am I still capable of meeting that demand?" If the answer to either question ever becomes no, he believes that could be the deciding factor in his retirement. For now, however, he joked, "Unfortunately, I'm still perfectly capable of giving my work everything I've got."
Even when assessing his performance objectively, Sakurai believes he remains highly capable. He does not simply rely on his established ideas and is willing to listen to others. The industry also recognizes that certain jobs can only be handled by him, so offers continue to come his way.
Judging purely by his current workload, retirement is nowhere in sight.
That said, Sakurai acknowledged that he has gradually begun to feel the physical effects of getting older. Working from morning to night can leave his eyes fatigued, and his vision has even started to blur at times. Even so, the offers keep coming, so the question now is how long his motivation will hold out.
Asked what keeps him motivated, Sakurai said he does not believe he should simply keep doing the same thing over and over. In his view, people need to change their role over time and move into new stages of their careers, with the launch of his YouTube channel serving as one example.
Sakurai also said he is not fixated on remaining a game director. He is constantly thinking about how he can contribute to the games industry and what form that contribution should take. Once his current projects are finished, figuring out what comes next will be one of the major questions he intends to tackle.
▼ Famitsu 40th Anniversary Festival panel celebrating the release of "Masahiro Sakurai's Thoughts on Games: Final"