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Sakurai suggests that an individual’s personal touch can easily become anonymous within a sea of hundreds of developers. “Some tasks offer clear, tangible results, while others do not,” he noted. “If you cannot identify your specific accomplishment within the final product, it’s hard to stay motivated.” From his perspective, this disconnect is only intensifying as studio sizes continue to balloon.
“This sense of fulfillment is becoming rarer with high-budget, large-scale projects,” Sakurai added. “Staff counts are frequently surging into the hundreds. The gratification of building something on your own is fundamentally different from being a small part of a massive machinery. The very role of a developer is undergoing a transformation.”
Sakurai’s own career trajectory perfectly highlights this evolution. The credits for his debut title, Kirby’s Dream Land, list only 14 people. In stark contrast, Kirby Air Ride saw that number swell to 908. It is easy to see how a developer could feel like a cog in the machine when surrounded by nearly a thousand colleagues.
Sakurai is not alone in this critique. Alexandre Amancio, former creative director for Assassin’s Creed, recently argued that AAA studios are “mistakenly” overstaffing projects, suggesting that the industry’s future lies in leaner, more agile teams. Similarly, Hideo Kojima has praised the “ideal” size of mid-tier teams, such as the one behind Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.
However, the conversation around team size remains nuanced. The debate surrounding Expedition 33 last year revealed that even “small” modern teams often rely on extensive networks of external contractors and publishing support. While tiny indie teams continue to deliver groundbreaking hits, the era of the individual blockbuster creator may be a genie that’s hard to put back in the bottle.
Despite his legacy as the architect of Kirby and Super Smash Bros., Masahiro Sakurai remains humble, claiming he doesn’t see himself as a “hit-maker” and expressing admiration for the “extraordinary” creations of his peers.
Source: gamesradar.com
