Masahiro Sakurai responds to #ThankYouSakurai with gratitude for his team and fans

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate has been one of the most talked-about games since its launch back in 2018. Over the years, fans across the internet have frequently come together in order to speculate, discuss, and argue about what characters would come to the game as DLC fighters. The team behind the game works incredibly hard, and is led by series creator Masahiro Sakurai. Prior to the reveal of Sora as the game’s final character, fans flooded social media with messages of thanks to the famed developer. Sakurai has seen the messages and thanked fans for all of the love.

During the morning hours of October 5, 2021, the internet was running rampant as we were just mere hours away from the announcement of the final DLC fighter being added to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Before the presentation, fans decided to voice their appreciation for Game Director Masahiro Sakurai under the hashtag #ThankYouSakurai. Whatever the outcome of the showcase would be, fans wanted to thank Sakurai for his endless hard work and dedication to Super Smash Bros. and its fans over the years.

Masahiro Sakurai saw the hashtag, which became a trending topic on Twitter. He shared a tweet responding to fans. Here is Sakurai’s message, translated from Japanese to English using Twitter’s translate feature:

The latest Super Smash Bros. Ultimate showcase was quite an emotional one. Not only because it was the final DLC for the fighting game, marking the conclusion of the three-year run of post-launch content, but because Masahiro Sakurai also confirmed that it would be his final one as well. During the broadcast, Sakurai also pays tribute and thanks the other developers that have worked on games in the series over the years.

Sakurai has been the leader and face of the Super Smash Bros. series since 1999, and it looks like this may be the end of that legendary run. It’s unclear what’s next for Sakurai or the Smash Bros. franchise, but he can finally get some deserved rest, knowing all of his work has been appreciated.

Thank you, Sakurai!