Masahiro Sakurai Forced to Abandon Game Designers Award After 16 Years as He Can’t Find a Successor
The Game Designers Award, one of the Japan Game Awards’ most prestigious accolades, will not return, as longtime founder Masahiro Sakurai announced he could not find a suitable successor to continue its legacy.
Sakurai, the legendary video game creator behind Kirby and Super Smash Bros., established the Game Designers Award in 2010 to recognize outstanding creative achievement in Japanese game development. The award ran for 16 years as part of the annual Japan Game Awards, celebrating innovative designers and creative visionaries shaping the industry.
Despite searching for a replacement, Sakurai was unable to identify someone adequate to take on the responsibility of overseeing the award. The announcement came after the September 14 ceremony, which presented the award’s final iteration.
The decision marks the end of an era for one of Japan’s most celebrated gaming industry recognitions. The discontinuation reflects broader industry challenges around leadership transitions and maintaining prestigious programs when key figures step down.
The Japan Game Awards, organized by CESA, continues with other award categories including the Games of the Year Division. However, the loss of the Game Designers Award represents a notable gap in celebrating individual creative achievement at Japan’s premier gaming awards ceremony.