Super Smash Bros. Creator Says Japanese Developers Should Not "Americanize" Their Games

Renowned Japanese game developer Masahiro Sakurai, who is best known for creating the Super Smash Bros. series and Kirby, has advised his fellow Japanese developers to stay focused on creating games based on domestic players rather than catering to American players.

Sakurai has recently been rewarded the Art Encouragement Prize for New Artists from Japan’s Agency for Cultural Affairs. The award honored his YouTube series, Masahiro Sakurai on Creating Games, which offers insights into game development. After the award ceremony, he joined an interview with the Japanese website Entax.

When asked about suggestions for the Japanese gaming industry to catch up with fast growth in some other countries like China, he said: "It's not really my own idea, but as an industry trend, I think Japanese people should keep pursuing the things that Japanese people like." (via Automaton). 

Sakurai noted that a while ago, there was a trend of "making Americanized works" as some games caught popularity there. Therefore, "there was a culture of following de facto standards," which are actions taken by the industry as a result of market competition. However, this is not necessary in his opinion. Instead, there is some "uniqueness and fun" in Japanese games, which are actually what global players look for. "In other words, I think that the ideal would be to make games the way you like, as those who agree with you will enjoy them," he concluded.

Masahiro Sakurai, who is 54, is still creating games besides updating the YouTube channel to provide invaluable game development tips. Last October, he teased that a new game has been in development since 2022, although not many details have been revealed yet.

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