‘Super Smash Bros.’ Creator Says Japanese Devs “Should Simply Pursue What They Love” Because Overseas Fans Love “Japan’s Unique Style And Its Distinct Charm”
In offering advice to his fellow Japanese video game devs regarding the future of their industry, esteemed Super Smash Bros. creator Masahiro Sakurai says that rather than wasting their time appealing to specific overseas markets, their best bet for continued success is to embrace their country’s unique cultural and creative identities.
Sakurai offered his thoughts on the topic of Japanese video game development while speaking to Japanese new outlet Entax during the recent 2025 edition of the country’s Annual Art Encouragement Prize Ceremony and Celebration, a government-sponsored event organized by the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology’s Award that recognizes 11 artists from various mediums – drama, film, music, dance, literature, fine arts, broadcasting, popular entertainment, development of the arts, criticism, and media arts – whose “outstanding achievements have opened up new vistas in a given year”.
Honored at the event with the Minister’s Award for Media Arts for his Masahiro Sakurai on Creating Games video game channel, where he has spent the years since the release of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate‘s final DLC character, Sora, providing the public with his own personal insights into video game development, Sakurai took a beat following his win to answer a few of Entax’s questions regarding the future of the Japanese video game industry.
Met with the assertion from his host that “the gaming market in China has been booming” before being asked if he had ” Do you have “any thoughts on what direction the Japanese gaming industry should take” in order to remain competitive against their East Asian neighbor, Sakurai opined, “This isn’t exactly my own idea, but looking at trends in the gaming industry, I strongly believe that Japanese creators should simply pursue what they love.”
“There was a time when American entertainment was hugely successful, and people in Japan thought, ‘We should create something more Americanized,'” he continued, per a machine translation of Entax’s recap provided by ChatGPT. “There was definitely that kind of culture—trying to align with the de facto standard (products or standards that become widely accepted through market competition).”
“However, I feel that overseas fans of Japanese games aren’t necessarily looking for that,” he further noted. “What they love is Japan’s unique style and its distinct charm. In other words, I believe the ideal approach is for creators to make the games they truly want, and for those who appreciate them to enjoy them.”
To this end, when asked if he had any closing words of advice for those who hoped to one day work in the industry, Sakurai declared, “The most important thing I want to say is, ‘Do what you want freely.'”
“When I was creating my various shows and my YouTube channel, I always kept in mind that forcing my own views onto others isn’t a good approach,” he said. “What I share is just one way of thinking—it’s not an absolute truth. As I’ve mentioned in my videos, my goal is to ‘give people a boost’ so they can find their own paths. What matters most is how individuals take that knowledge and apply it.”
“I hope that each person will push forward in the direction they believe in and refine their work in their own way,” Sakurai concluded. “So, let’s all do our best together!”
From a players perspective, what Sakurai’s saying holds exceptionally true: Overseas fan like Japanese games explicitly because they offer a reprieve from the design sensibilities of their local developers. After all, why would an American player want to play a Call of Duty-style game from a Japanese developer when they can just play Call of Duty?
But far from just my take on it, one just has to look at how badly Capcom spiraled for years after heeding Mighty No. 9 creator Keiji Inafune’s unfounded 2012 warning that the Japanese industry must emulate their American counterpart if they wanted to survive, with subsequent Western-influenced releases like Dead Rising 3, DmC: Devil May Cry, Resident Evil: Operation Racoon City, and Resident Evil 6 doing massive damage to the company’s financials as well as each franchise’s respective reputation, the effects of which they are just now beginning to truly recover from.
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