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 (1989–2003) Sora Ltd. (2005–present)
Works	Kirby Super Smash Bros. Meteos Kid Icarus: Uprising
Spouse(s)	Michiko Sakurai

Masahiro Sakurai (born August 3, 1970) is a famous Japanese video game director and designer. He is best known for creating two very popular game series: Kirby and Super Smash Bros.. Besides these, he also worked on games like Meteos and Kid Icarus: Uprising.

Sakurai used to work at a company called HAL Laboratory. In 2003, he left HAL. Then, in 2005, he started his own company, Sora Ltd., with his wife, Michiko Sakurai. They work on games as freelancers. He also wrote a weekly column for Famitsu magazine for many years. You might even recognize his voice! 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 shared lots of cool information about how games are made.

Masahiro Sakurai's Journey in Games

Masahiro Sakurai was born in Musashimurayama, Tokyo, Japan. He started working in the video game world at HAL Laboratory. When he was just 19, he created the lovable character Kirby. He also directed Kirby's very first game, Kirby's Dream Land.

Why Sakurai Left HAL Laboratory

Sakurai left HAL Laboratory on August 5, 2003. He explained that it was hard to start new projects there. The gaming industry was changing, and making new games felt very risky. He also felt pressure because people always expected a sequel whenever he made a new game. Even sequels need a lot of hard work from many people.

Creating New Games and Companies

After leaving HAL, Sakurai worked 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. Nintendo and HAL Laboratory's president, Satoru Iwata, also announced that a new Super Smash Bros. game would come to the Wii console. This new game would let players battle online.

Directing Super Smash Bros. Brawl

In a magazine called Famitsu, Sakurai shared that he would be the director for Super Smash Bros. Brawl on the Wii. This game came out in 2008. Many people from 19 different game studios helped make it. Sakurai kept fans updated daily on the Super Smash Bros. Brawl website, called the Smash Bros. Dojo. He shared secrets and gameplay details there from May 2007 to April 2008.

The logo of Sora Ltd.

On the last day of updates for the Dojo, it was revealed that Sakurai was the voice of King Dedede. He voiced Dedede in Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards and in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Sakurai's company, Sora Ltd., also teamed up with Nintendo to create a studio called Project Sora. Nintendo owned most of this new studio.

Working on Kid Icarus: Uprising and More Smash Bros.

At a big event called E3 2010, it was announced that Sakurai and Project Sora were making Kid Icarus: Uprising for the Nintendo 3DS. Project Sora closed down in June 2012 after finishing the game. At E3 2011, Nintendo announced that Sakurai was also working on new Super Smash Bros. games for the Nintendo 3DS and Wii U. He started working on these games after Kid Icarus: Uprising was released in March 2012.

In February 2013, Sakurai had a health issue called calcific tendinitis in his right shoulder. This caused him a lot of pain. He said it might slow down his work because he tests some of his games himself. His wife, Michiko, has helped with the look of the menus in many of his games, including Kirby Air Ride and the Super Smash Bros. series.

In 2015, Sakurai mentioned that making games was very stressful. He wasn't sure if he could keep making them if it stayed that way. However, he later directed Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, which came out in 2018.

In March 2022, Weekly Famitsu magazine gave Sakurai the Best Creator award. He also announced he was working on a new project not related to making games. In March 2025, Sakurai received the AMD Award for Lifetime Achievement.

Masahiro Sakurai on Creating Games YouTube Channel

Masahiro Sakurai on Creating Games
YouTube information
Years active	2022–2024
Genre	Video game design development
Subscribers	653,000 (English) 840,000 (Japanese)
Total views	22.2 million (English) 95.9 million (Japanese)
Subscriber and view counts updated as of July 21, 2025.

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

Work on the channel began right after the character Sora was added to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate in 2021. Sakurai wrote and recorded all the videos before starting work on Kirby Air Riders in April 2022. He hired Hike Inc. to edit the videos and 8-4 for English translations. The music for the channel was made by Yuzo Koshiro. Sakurai estimated that the channel cost about 90 million Japanese Yen to make.

Less than a day after it launched, the English channel gained over 200,000 subscribers. In 2023, the Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association gave Sakurai awards for Game Design and Visual Arts for his channel. They praised his efforts to share his knowledge in a way that was easy to understand. In March 2025, Sakurai was also recognized by the Agency for Cultural Affairs for his work on the channel.

Games Masahiro Sakurai Has Worked On

Video games

See also

In Spanish: Masahiro Sakurai para niños