In a recent column written for Famitsu, video game industry veteran Masahiro Sakurai spoke about the possibility of retiring from the industry one day. He says that he'll be continuing his writing for Famitsu for a little longer, and will still be doing his work in video games after Super Smash Bros Ultimate wraps up, contradicting rumors that began circulating this morning after an excerpt of the article was posted on Japanese blog Ryokutya2089.
Translated by @KodyNOKOLO and @Sephazon, this column marks Sakurai's 627th column for the video game magazine Famitsu. According to the translation, Sakurai wrote this column just after Golden Week, a week of holidays that go from April 29th to early May. He was reluctant to leave behind the time off he spent during the holidays, particularly the time he spent driving around and finishing Resident Evil Village. During his time off, he had time to think about his future. Kody's part of the translation thread, the first part of which can be seen below, says that Sakurai "likes the idea of an early retirement."
This thread is a translation of Sakurai's recent Famitsu Column #629, which will be posted on @AllSourceGaming later today! Sakurai talks about his thoughts on concluding work.
— Kody NOKOLO (@KodyNOKOLO) May 26, 2021
This translation was done by myself and @Sephazon.
Please credit us if you use our translations. pic.twitter.com/IRMrRtFSwD
Picking up with Sephazon's part of the translation, Sakurai continues by saying that while he's getting older, new game developers can work for a long time. The experiences people create can last forever, he adds, but "personal work will always come to an end someday." He'll continue to push on and create new experiences as long as he can, although he expresses doubts as to whether that feeling is "best suited for the times."
Turning to the topic of Super Smash Bros Ultimate, he says that the game will be finalized when the last of the DLC releases, and that should be "soon." Also, there are definitely only two fighters left to announce, both of which are in the current Fighter Pass and both of which will be released this year. Sakurai concludes by saying that he'll keep working in video games after work on Ultimate wraps up. As for his Famitsu column, which he has written for 18 years, he'll continue with that for "just a little longer", whatever duration that means to Sakurai
There's no word on when the next big announcement for Super Smash Bros Ultimate will be, but it's entirely possible it'll be at E3.
