Smash Bros. director Masahiro Sakurai thinks gen-AI will cause a surge of unoriginal games, but says human creativity can’t be replicated
Masahiro Sakurai, the legendary director of Super Smash Bros. and Kirby franchises, has expressed concerns about generative AI’s impact on game development. In an interview with Japanese outlet Denfaminicogamer, Sakurai warned that while AI will likely trigger a surge of unoriginal games, human creativity—exemplified by designers like Ico’s Fumito Ueda—remains irreplaceable.
Sakurai’s comments came while discussing his recent retirement from judging the Game Designers Awards, where he reflected on the dramatic increase in game releases over the past 15 years. In 2010, Steam published 275 games; by a recent count, that figure had ballooned to over 19,000 annually. This massive influx is partly attributed to easier development tools and lower barriers to entry, but Sakurai suggested AI may further exacerbate the problem by enabling derivative content creation.
Despite his concerns, Sakurai emphasized that truly creative developers will become increasingly valuable as AI-generated games flood the market. His perspective suggests a bifurcating industry: one dominated by AI-assisted imitations of existing titles, and another populated by human designers whose original vision and artistic execution cannot be matched by algorithmic generation. The remarks underscore ongoing debates within the gaming industry about how generative AI tools will reshape game development, quality standards, and the value placed on original creative vision.