Masahiro Sakurai facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Masahiro Sakurai
桜井 政博
Sakurai in 2021
Born	(1970-08-03) August 3, 1970 (age 54) Musashimurayama, Tokyo, Japan
Occupation	Game director game designer scenario writer
Employer	HAL Laboratory (1990–2003) Sora Ltd. (2005–present)
Works	Kirby Super Smash Bros. Meteos Kid Icarus: Uprising
Spouse(s)	Michiko Sakurai

Masahiro Sakurai (桜井 政博, born August 3, 1970) is a famous Japanese video game director and game designer. He is best known for creating the popular Kirby and Super Smash Bros. game series. Besides these, he also designed Meteos in 2005 and directed Kid Icarus: Uprising in 2012.

Sakurai used to work for HAL Laboratory. He left that company in 2003. In 2005, he started his own company called Sora Ltd. with his wife, Michiko Sakurai. They work on games as freelancers through this company. He also wrote a weekly column for Famitsu magazine for many years, from 2003 to 2021. You might also know his voice from some of his games! He voiced King Dedede in Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards and in the Super Smash Bros. games. From 2022 to 2024, Sakurai had a YouTube channel called Masahiro Sakurai on Creating Games. On this channel, he talked about different parts of game design and his career.

Making Games: Sakurai's Career Journey

Masahiro Sakurai was born in Musashimurayama, Tokyo, Japan, on August 3, 1970. He started his journey in the video game world at HAL Laboratory. When he was just 19 years old, he created the character Kirby. He also directed Kirby's very first game, Kirby's Dream Land.

Leaving HAL Laboratory

Sakurai left HAL Laboratory on August 5, 2003. He explained in an interview that it was hard to start new projects while staying there. He felt that the gaming industry was changing, and making new games was risky. Even though HAL wasn't forcing him to make more Kirby games, he noticed a lot of pressure in the industry. He said it was tough because people always expected a sequel whenever he made a new game.

New Projects and Sora Ltd.

Soon after leaving HAL, Sakurai started working with another company called Q Entertainment. This led to the puzzle game Meteos for the Nintendo DS in 2005. On September 30, 2005, Sakurai announced that he had started his own company, Sora Ltd. At that time, he said two new games were being developed, but he didn't share many details.

Directing Super Smash Bros. Brawl

The logo of Sora Ltd.

In a magazine called Famitsu, Sakurai shared that he would be the director and game designer for Super Smash Bros. Brawl. This game was for the Wii console. Super Smash Bros. Brawl came out in 2008. Many people from 19 different game studios helped make it. Sakurai kept a daily website called the Smash Bros. Dojo. For a whole year before the game's release, he shared secrets and gameplay details on this site.

On the last day of updates for the Smash Bros. Dojo, it was revealed that Sakurai was the voice of King Dedede. He voiced Dedede in Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards and also in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

Project Sora and Kid Icarus: Uprising

Sakurai and his company, Sora Ltd., teamed up with Nintendo to create a new studio called Project Sora. At E3 2010, it was announced that Sakurai and Project Sora were working on Kid Icarus: Uprising. This game was for the Nintendo 3DS. Project Sora closed down on June 30, 2012, after finishing the game.

Continuing the Super Smash Bros. Series

At E3 2011, Nintendo announced that Sakurai was working on Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U. He started making these games right after Kid Icarus: Uprising was released in March 2012.

In February 2013, Sakurai had some pain in his right shoulder. He mentioned that this might slow down his work. His wife, Michiko, has helped a lot with the look and feel of many of his games. This includes Kirby Air Ride, Meteos, and the Super Smash Bros. games.

In 2015, Sakurai wrote in a magazine column that he wasn't sure if he could keep making games. He felt his job was very stressful. However, he continued to work. In 2018, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate was released, and Sakurai was the director once again. On March 14, 2022, Weekly Famitsu magazine gave Sakurai the Best Creator award. He also announced that he is working on a new project that is not a game.

Masahiro Sakurai on Creating Games YouTube Channel

Masahiro Sakurai on Creating Games
YouTube information
Years active	2022–2024
Genre	Video game design development
Subscribers	596,000 (English) 630,000 (Japanese)
Total views	20.2 million (English) 63.1 million (Japanese)
Subscriber and view counts updated as of October 22, 2024.

Sakurai started his YouTube channel, Masahiro Sakurai on Creating Games, in August 2022. It has both English and Japanese versions. The videos on the channel teach about game development and design. They also share stories from his career. He said he started the channel because he wanted to share his lessons with more people. He had been asked to give talks at schools. Sakurai also noted that other places where game developers teach, like the Game Developers Conference, often focus on very advanced topics. He wanted to teach more basic ideas.

Work on the channel began after the character Sora was added to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate in 2021. Sakurai wrote and recorded all the videos before starting a new game project in April 2022. He hired Hike Inc. for editing and 8-4 for the English translations. The music for the channel's intro and outro was made by Yuzo Koshiro. Sakurai estimated that making the channel cost about 90 million Japanese Yen.

Less than a day after it launched, the English version of his channel gained over 200,000 subscribers. In 2023, a group called the Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association gave Sakurai awards for his channel. They praised his efforts to share his knowledge in a way that was easy to understand.

Games Sakurai Has Worked On

Video Games He Directed or Designed

Images for kids

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  Logo for Sakurai's YouTube channel

See also

In Spanish: Masahiro Sakurai para niños