Sakurai Believes He Was Able To “Fully Complete” Iwata’s Final Mission


Satoru Iwata
Image: Nintendo

As you might recall, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate was the “final mission” assigned to Masahiro Sakurai by the late Satoru Iwata.

The Switch entry went on to become a huge success and has now sold over 25 million copies worldwide. After the game shipped, Sakurai’s “next mission” was to release all of the DLC, and he’s now also done that.

Has the mission finally been completed then? In an email interview with IGN from earlier this month, Sakurai confirmed he had completed Iwata’s assignment:

“Yes, I believe I was able to fully complete this mission.”

As for what’s next, Sakurai’s still not entirely sure about his future. In the same interview, he reiterated how if Nintendo asked him to make another Smash game, he would have to think about it.

At the same time, he “may not necessarily continue” down the path of creating more games, but could still stay within the games industry. He wants to “keep an open mind” and consider all the possibilities of what could come next.

At least now Sakurai has completed this “final mission” and we’re sure Iwata would be proud.