Back in October 2024, Masahiro Sakurai featured a special finale episode on his YouTube channel to mark the end of his “Masahiro Sakurai on Creating Games” video series.
During that final episode, Sakurai was surprisingly forthcoming as he revealed that he had been working on a secret game project since April 2022. He had apparently received the request to write up the game proposal for this secret game project back in July 2021 while he was still juggling the Kazuya and Sora DLC for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, and completed it at “lightning speed.”
For obvious reasons, Sakurai wasn’t willing to share many more details beyond that. When can we expect to learn more about this “secret game project” of Sakurai’s?
“I’m sorry I can’t share more about this project, but assuming we’re able to get it made, it should be announced sooner or later.” — Masahiro Sakurai
“I’m sorry I can’t share more about this project, but assuming we’re able to get it made, it should be announced sooner or later,” stated Sakurai on the subject. It’s been over four months since Sakurai said that.
More than likely, Sakurai’s next game is slated to be on the Nintendo Switch 2, which was revealed back in January. In less than two weeks, there will be a Nintendo Switch 2 focused Direct held on April 2 that will reveal more about the console and its game library.
This surely means that Masahiro Sakurai is fully finished with his YouTube channel, right? In a recent interview with Entax, shortly after Sakurai had received the Lifetime Achievement Award from AMD, he revealed how he was potentially planning on using his YouTube channel in the future.
“You’ve ended your YouTube channel for now, but do you have any plans to make a second or third series? Are there still things pent up inside you that you want to explain or share with an audience?” asked Entax during the interview.
“Also, since I have this channel now after all, I’ve been thinking about the possibility of using it for various announcements and such.” — Masahiro Sakurai
“Well, I honestly haven’t thought about doing it again, ha ha… What I showed on that channel was really just a small part of the knowhow and knowledge so if you’re asking me if there’s more content I could potentially make, there’s probably a ton,” responded Sakurai. “But, it was really rough to make what I already made, ha ha…”
To clarify, Sakurai has relayed that he spent about 90 million yen (the equivalent of $630,000 USD) creating his YouTube series. Additionally, it was only possible for him take on a project like this due to the span of free time he had between game projects after Super Smash Bros. Ultimate’s DLC had wrapped up.
Although Sakurai probably doesn’t have the time or resources that he’s willing to put into a second or third series in the foreseeable future, that doesn’t mean the YouTube channel can’t be used again for another purpose.
“So moving forward, I think it would be difficult for me to make something in the same way again, but there may be opportunities of sharing more of my knowhow via different avenues or methods in the future,” continued Sakurai.
“That said, now that I have this channel, it’s always possible I could use it to talk about something else down the line. You never know what might happen, so I’m trying to stay flexible in how I approach it.” — Masahiro Sakurai
“Also, since I have this channel now after all, I’ve been thinking about the possibility of using it for various announcements and such.”
Of course, it’s important to note that Sakurai said something similar to this during his special finale episode. The fact that this idea is still on his mind means that it might become relevant in the near future. Could this potentially have something to do with that secret game project of his? After all, it’s really curious how it hasn’t even been announced yet.
“This will be the channel’s final episode,” said Sakurai back then. “I’m sure I could think of plenty more to discuss, but at present, I have no plans to continue. So please don’t ask me for more episodes on this topic or that topic. I’ve already given this my best.”
“That said, now that I have this channel, it’s always possible I could use it to talk about something else down the line,” continued Sakurai. “You never know what might happen, so I’m trying to stay flexible in how I approach it.”
As previously alluded to, there’s a good possibility that Sakurai’s secret game project will be revealed during the upcoming Nintendo Switch 2 Direct scheduled for April 2, 2025. By then, this game project will have been in development for about three years.
A likely possibility is that Sakurai’s mysterious game is the next entry in the Super Smash Bros. series. Of course, it will be difficult to follow up after the latest iteration on the Switch considering its “Everyone Is Here” theme, but Nintendo would probably have an interest in having Sakurai oversee such a project based on the massive success of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
We’ll just have to wait and see what happens, but it’s possible that Sakurai might be planning to use his YouTube channel to push out daily updates, similar to what he did with the Super Smash Bros. websites for previous games.
A special thanks goes out to Nicholas “MajinTenshinhan” Taylor for the translations featured in this article.
Source: Event Hubs
