In Masahiro Sakurai’s most recent Famitsu column #603, translated courtesy of Sephazon on Twitter, Sakurai speaks to how the development of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate DLC is progressing during the current circumstances. Titled “Teleworking, in progress!”, the column goes into some details regarding how the company as a whole is adapting to the telework situation. He also gives his own feelings regarding the experience and some of the changes he has made as a result.
He starts out by mentioning how “highly confidential” the project is and how it needs to be protected. While he says that he is not worried about that as much, he understands that it is important that less contact is made between people. Sakurai would hardly be the first to person in the industry to bring up the confidential nature of game development, it is interesting to see him admit to being less worried about it, especially considering that multiple corporations have been involved with his recent work.
He goes on to state that the telework situation for development has actually been “quite successful.” He commended many of his staff for their work during this period of teleworking. He specifically mentioned that a number of the staff were commuting two hours one-way prior to this and that he saw this as much more effective.
Giving his own impressions of teleworking, he noted that the air was much cleaner and how busy offices tend to have “dirty air.” Not only is the air better for him at home, but he also notes that the office tended to be too hot for him to be comfortable and he would end up sweating every day. However, in his own room, he was able to set the temperature and humidity to his own liking instead. He also mentioned that he liked being able to have the natural light at home. While the offices have windows, he says that they were closed almost always due to secrecy.
He then talks about his work ethic. He mentions how there are always “temptations to play or sleep.” He does not see it as an issue though. In his words, “When you have a job in front of you, your hands tend to continue working.” This sort of work ethic is hardly a surprise from Sakurai considering his history and physical hardships developing the Super Smash Bros. series, but many of us probably do not have quite the same outlook.
Despite the general success of the team to continue while no longer having a shared office space, he does mention that there are some difficulties. He states that there are things that need correcting and tools that are needed to support developers.
One of the biggest issues has been that he is just not able to gather everyone together to explain things as he once did. Now, it tends to turn into long, descriptive emails and a digital back-and-forth to get ideas across to the team. They are making strides in methods of having live conversations, however, with video conferencing. He says that the whole process feels “outdated” though and that having a family and children can make setting aside the time for teleconferences difficult for some. To help with the process and to allow for live playtesting and feedback, he did set up a studio in his home which he uses to capture gameplay. This can be shown via streaming but he also records the footage and uploads it to a company server to allow others to download it for future reference as well. He says this is a new system for them, but it is going over extremely well and is much preferable to taking footage with a camera.
It has very much been a process of trial and error. Due to his very hands-on approach to the series, he receives a lot of correspondence from throughout the team and at all times of the day. He says that he responds to “correspondence and work, even until midnight” some days. Despite this, he says that his day-to-day schedule and breaks are much more consistent and he has a better sense of time, likely due to the fact that he is no longer bumping into coworkers in the halls on his way to lunch.
While work on the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate DLC seems to be going well, Sakurai is quick to admit that it is important to note that they are working on DLC and not a new release. He feels it would have been difficult to have started the development of the game under these circumstances. He also mentions how creators outside the gaming industry are also facing similar difficulties, but that he hopes that one day “we can enjoy being outside in the sun once again.”
Left: Microphone for his new studio setup.
Right: Dumbell he is using for working out at home.
Masahiro Sakurai has been writing a bi-weekly column for the Japanese magazine, Famitsu, since 2003. In the column, he writes about things going on in his life. As the Super Smash Bros. series has been a large part of that life, he often has something to say about the series development or his feelings on it.
