Despite Super Smash Bros. not being released in Japan just yet, series creator Masahiro Sakurai says he might be done making games in the series. Sakurai has stated that he believes the Wii U and Nintendo 3DS versions of the game have delivered all he can to gamers and he’s not sure how to improve on them.
I can’t positively declare there won’t be [another Smash Bros. game]. With both Melee and Brawl, I made those games with the thought that there wouldn’t be any more sequels. Thus, I really can’t deny the chance for another.
However, as for myself, I don’t think there will be.
Long-time fans of the series will remember that earlier in development of the series, Sakurai suffered from a condition in his arm that made it very painful to continue working on the series. Perhaps now that these games are complete, Sakurai is ready to take a break to recuperate from that injury properly.
Sakurai went on to hint that fan complaints about the roster might also be part of the decision, as he stated that his team went above and beyond with both version of Super Smash Bros. this time around to ensure there was more content available, yet fans continued to complain about some characters not appearing, most notably the Ice Climbers duo.
Our intention [with Super Smash Bros. for Wii U] was to provide extra merits to the game which go far beyond the sale price. In terms of scope, and in terms of sheer number of characters, we went beyond our limits long ago.
And yet, if we cut the number of fighters or modes in a future game, I’m sure there would be complaints.
Either way, Super Smash Bros. has been a huge success for Nintendo, but we won’t know how big of a success until the game is released in Japan and we get our eyes on holiday sales figures.
