With the release of Sora in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, the long life cycle of the game starting back in 2018 finally came to a close. With a roster containing a staggering 89 total characters, the game has more than enough content for players to enjoy. This means that the team, as well as the game's director Masahiro Sakurai, can get some much-needed time off. Now, in a post-Ultimate interview, Sakurai discussed the development of the game and the future of Smash as a series, saying the roster would need to shrink and depend less on his vision for the franchise.
The interview with Sakurai comes from The Verge, where the Smash director discussed how Ultimate now and the team's original vision for the game compare, saying that it landed "not too far from that initial vision," though believing that there are some shortcomings that he "took as lessons learned." When asked if he would return to another Smash game and what role he would take in comparison to how it is now, a question he still seems to be questioning that answer himself. Sakurai stated:
"I think we’ve reached the limit, at least in terms of volume of content and fighters. Basically, if I were to have the opportunity to work on another Super Smash Bros. game, that means we would have to shrink the roster, but we need to think about whether fans would be pleased about that. Also, I’ve been doing too much of the work myself, so I’d need to resolve that, too."
Sakurai, who is known as a workaholic to both colleagues and fans, talks about how so much of himself and his personality is within the Smash games, saying that to ensure the series' continued success, both he and his team would need to try and find a way to "eliminate" its dependence on his solo vision. "This would be a challenge for the future and something that needs to be discussed with Nintendo, if there were to be a next installment in the Super Smash Bros. series," said Sakurai.
In addition to discussing the development and future of Super Smash Bros., Sakurai also got the chance to talk about how he has been enjoying some of his time off since the release of Sora, mentioning how he enjoys going on drives and short trips:
"Usually, I like to go on drives. I have more free time now than I’ve probably ever had since I started working in game development, so I occasionally go on short trips, overnight or just a day trip. My itinerary gets fairly packed since I like to make stops here and there. Also, it is fortunate that the COVID-19 situation in Japan has improved."
Super Smash. Bros. Ultimate is available on the Nintendo Switch now.