It’s been a little over three weeks since the Switch 2 was released. Evidently, Masahiro Sakurai’s secret game project was Kirby Air Riders all along, although many of us were speculating that it was the next entry in the Super Smash Bros. series leading up to the big reveal.
According to Reece “Kiwi Talkz” Reilly, Nintendo originally wanted Sakurai to begin development on the next Super Smash Bros. (presumably for the Switch 2) immediately after post-launch development for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate had reached its conclusion. However, Sakurai, apparently as a “negotiation tactic,” offered to oversee development of the next Super Smash Bros. only if he was allowed to make Kirby Air Riders first.
Kiwi Talkz claims that Sakurai was feeling burnt out with the Super Smash Bros. series since he had constantly been working on the series since 2012 with the start of Super Smash Bros. 4’s development all the way through Super Smash Bros. Ultimate’s DLC.
While this is effectively hearsay, many of Sakurai’s previous statements do seem to line up with this idea that Sakurai could be feeling burnt out with Super Smash Bros. and that he pushed to develop another game before beginning work on the next game in the franchise.
This game is Sakurai’s passion project. He was burned out from working on Smash Bros constantly since 2012 so as a negotiating tactic offered to do another Smash if he could do Kirby Air Riders first.
Nintendo are in a bind with Smash Bros as Sakurai is irreplaceable currently. https://t.co/CoNKBqNIJ9
— Reece “Kiwi Talkz” Reilly (@kiwitalkz) June 25, 2025
“Up until now, we’ve created all sorts of fighters and stages. Gathering all of these games, new and old, and compiling them into a single product is a task that has meant a lot to me,” said Masahiro Sakurai during the Kazuya Mishima presentation upon outright stating that the next DLC after Kazuya Mishima (which we now know to be Sora) would be the last for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
“Now that I think about it, it’s been close to 10 years since Super Smash Bros. for the Wii U and 3DS systems were in development,” continued Sakurai. “I’ve been working on this for a long time. You could call it my life’s work.”
By this point, Sakurai had already submitted his proposal for his next game project, which we know to be Kirby Air Riders. As predicted, it was Nintendo that requested this game proposal from Sakurai.
“I am not thinking of a sequel. I am not thinking of it every time. However, I can’t say with certainty that this would be the end of Smash.” — Masahiro Sakurai
“It was around July 2021. I was busy working on the DLC of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate,” Sakurai later explained. “To be precise, I was putting together the video for ‘Mr. Sakurai Presents Kazuya.’ Sora was in development too, of course. While I was busy working on those tasks, I received a request to write a game proposal, which I finished at lightning speed.”
Of course, it would make sense why Nintendo would want Sakurai to develop another entry of Super Smash Bros. for the Switch 2 considering how Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is the third best-selling game on the Switch (currently with over 36.24 million units sold).
During an interview with Famitsu, Sakurai acknowledged how difficult it would be to have a sequel follow up Super Smash Bros. Ultimate considering how packed with content it is, but wasn’t willing to outright declare that this would be the end of Super Smash Bros.
“I am not thinking of a sequel. I am not thinking of it every time. However, I can’t say with certainty that this would be the end of Smash,” said Sakurai.
“If the series were to continue, I have to talk with Nintendo and have a debate on whether it will succeed or not. I must think about this topic seriously.” — Masahiro Sakurai
“If the series were to continue, I have to talk with Nintendo and have a debate on whether it will succeed or not. I must think about this topic seriously.”
Although Sakurai would prefer to leave such a project to someone else, he believes that his involvement would be needed in order for the series to continue. The rumor that Kiwi Talkz is circulating seems to suggest that Nintendo is in agreement with this mindset.
“I currently don’t see a path where Smash can be produced without myself,” stated Sakurai. “Honestly, we did actually try leaving it to someone else, but it didn’t go well.”
While there currently aren’t any ways to validate what Kiwi Talkz is saying, Sakurai’s previous statements do seem to be lining up with this claim. After all, it feels a bit strange for Nintendo to have another racing game like Kirby Air Riders be developed with Mario Kart World already out.
Either way, it’s hard to imagine a scenario in which Sakurai doesn’t oversee the development of the next iteration in the Super Smash Bros. franchise after the completion of Kirby Air Riders. Ultimately though, we’ll have to see how things play out from here to find out.