Masahiro Sakurai (born August 3, 1970) is a Japanese video game director and designer. He is most famous for creating the Kirby and Super Smash Bros. series. He also helped design the game Meteos in 2005 and directed Kid Icarus: Uprising in 2012.

Before starting his own company, Sakurai worked at HAL Laboratory. In 2003, he left HAL Laboratory. In 2005, he and his wife, Michiko Sakurai (also a former employee of HAL Laboratory), started a company called Sora Ltd. They work as independent contractors through this company.

From 2003 to 2021, Sakurai wrote a weekly column for Famitsu magazine. He also did voice acting in some of his games, including providing the voice of King Dedede in Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards and the Super Smash Bros. series.

Between 2022 and 2024, Sakurai hosted an educational YouTube channel called Masahiro Sakurai on Creating Games. The channel discussed topics related to game design and his career.

Career

Masahiro Sakurai was born on August 3, 1970, in Musashimurayama, Tokyo, Japan. One of Sakurai's first jobs in the video game industry was at HAL Laboratory, where he created the character Kirby at age 19 and directed his first game, Kirby's Dream Land.

Sakurai left HAL on August 5, 2003. In an interview with Nintendo Dream, he said it was hard to create new projects while staying at HAL because of changes in the gaming industry, where the risk of failure was high. Although HAL did not push him to make more Kirby games, he noticed growing pressure in the industry. He said, "It was difficult for me to see that every time I made a new game, people automatically assumed a sequel was coming. Even if it's a sequel, many people must work very hard to make a game, but some people think the sequel process happens naturally."

After leaving HAL, Sakurai worked with Q Entertainment and Tetsuya Mizuguchi on a game called Meteos, which was released in 2005 for the Nintendo DS. On September 30, 2005, Sakurai announced he had started his own company, Sora Ltd. Two games were said to be in development, but no titles were shared. At Nintendo's E3 2005 press conference, Nintendo and HAL Laboratory president Satoru Iwata promised an online version of Super Smash Bros. would come to the Wii.

In issue #885 of Famitsu magazine, Sakurai said he would be the director and game designer for Super Smash Bros. Brawl for the Wii. Super Smash Bros. Brawl was released in 2008, with help from 19 different developer studios. Sakurai updated a website called the Smash Bros. Dojo daily, sharing secrets and gameplay details from May 22, 2007, to April 14, 2008.

On the final day of updates, it was revealed that Sakurai provided the voice for King Dedede in Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards and Super Smash Bros. Brawl. He and his company, Sora Ltd., started a first-party studio called Project Sora, which was 72% owned by Nintendo and 28% owned by Sora Ltd. At E3 2010, Nintendo announced that Sakurai and Project Sora were working on Kid Icarus: Uprising for the Nintendo 3DS. Project Sora closed in June 2012. At E3 2011, Nintendo said Sakurai was working on Super Smash Bros. for the Nintendo 3DS and Wii U. He began developing the game after Kid Icarus: Uprising was released in March 2012.

In February 2013, Sakurai was diagnosed with calcific tendinitis near his right shoulder, which caused him pain when he moved his arm. He said this could slow down his work because he tests games himself.

Sakurai's wife, Michiko, has worked on the graphical user interface for many of his games, including Kirby Air Ride, Meteos, and the Super Smash Bros. series.

In a January 2015 column in Weekly Famitsu, Sakurai mentioned the possibility of retiring, saying he doubted he could continue making games if his career remained as stressful. In December 2015, he said he was unsure if there would be another Super Smash Bros. game before Super Smash Bros. Ultimate was released in 2018 with Sakurai as director.

On March 14, 2022, Sakurai was awarded Best Creator by Weekly Famitsu. He also said he was working on a new project not related to game production. In March 2025, he was awarded the AMD Award for Lifetime Achievement.

Sakurai launched a YouTube channel called Masahiro Sakurai on Creating Games in August 2022, offering content in both English and Japanese. The channel focuses on game development, design, and his career. He said he started the channel to share his knowledge after being asked to speak at schools. He noted that other events, like the Game Developers Conference, often focus on advanced topics, not basic principles.

Work on the channel began after the release of Sora in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate in 2021. Sakurai wrote and recorded all videos before starting work on Kirby Air Riders in April 2022. He hired Hike Inc. for editing and 8-4 for English localization. The channel's opening and ending music was composed by Yuzo Koshiro. Sakurai estimated the total production cost was ¥90,000,000.

Less than a day after launching, the English version of his channel gained over 200,000 subscribers. In 2023, the Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association announced Sakurai won awards for Game Design and Visual Arts for his channel, praising his ability to explain ideas clearly. In March 2025, Sakurai was listed as a recipient of the Agency for Cultural Affairs' annual Art Encouragement Prize for New Artists for his work on the channel.

Personal life

In July 2009, Sakurai took in a female Scottish Fold cat named Fukurashi. He wrote about her in his Famitsu column. Fukurashi passed away in February 2026.