Masahiro Sakurai Warns That Gaming Must Embrace Originality to Survive
For the past 16 years at the Tokyo Game Show, Masahiro Sakurai has been recognizing innovative game design through his awards, celebrating titles that break the mold. This year marked the end of this tradition, and in a recent interview, he expressed a rather somber view on the significance of originality as he wrapped up the event.
Sakurai’s Game Designers Award aimed to highlight unique game design concepts, independent of their commercial success. The award has honored a variety of titles over the years, including the original *Life Is Strange*, *Mario Kart: Home Circuit*, *Viewfinder*, and *Scribblenauts*. However, during his speech at last month’s ceremony, he shared a bleak observation, stating, “Though it may sound rather grave, originality doesn’t actually have a strong impact on sales. I think it actually ranks low on the list of priorities for many.”
He likened the issue to the fleeting excitement of a limited-time drink flavor, expressing hope that the gaming industry still has enough creative talent to counteract this trend. “There likely aren’t many people who try every single new drink that comes out at convenience stores as soon as it’s released. The more you become accustomed to something, the more you gravitate toward the familiar. Most people tend to only want a taste that matches their preference and is exactly what they expect. But an industry that loses that sort of originality will only die slowly. The industry exists today because there have always been new ideas and experiences, and people making them.”
In a follow-up discussion with an outlet, he reflected on the design philosophies behind *Kirby* and *Super Smash Bros.* While both genres—2D platformers and fighting games—were already established, he focused on introducing fresh ways for players to engage within those frameworks. Yet, he acknowledged that generating original ideas and effectively communicating them to audiences is increasingly challenging.
“The first important thing is whether or not you can come up with an original idea,” Sakurai explains. “You might be able to expand on the concept of improving upon an existing idea, but when it comes to creating systems without an easy comparison point, who comes up with that idea? Then, you have to get staff to understand that idea, and it’s difficult to convey that ‘this is why it is fun, because you can do this.’ If you’re a game publisher, it’s difficult to then share that big picture. What are the game’s selling points?”
He continues, “Nowadays, so many games are described as XX-like, or games that resemble another one. In other words, the thing everyone else already wants. But originality means you have to create something that isn’t already what people are after, and be deliberate with that. It’s a high hurdle.”
This challenge is only intensified by the rise of AI, he notes. When he launched the award in 2010, around 275 games were released on Steam each year; that number has skyrocketed to over 19,000 today. This month’s Steam Next Fest alone features over 8,000 titles, many of which are AI-generated and heavily inspired by existing concepts.
Sakurai believes this makes original ideas even more crucial. “Although 19,000 titles is a lot, I think that number will only grow from now on, because AI will be used to turn them out. Most of them will end up unplayable, and there will be so many that it’ll be impossible to keep track or even understand them. With those AI games, the vast majority will be direct copies of games we’ve seen before. There are already many of them, even now.
“A little while ago, there was a game called *Librarian*. It’s set in a magical world where all the books have been mixed up, and you have to put them back. That’s the premise, but the mechanics are simple. Unsurprisingly, a lot of imitators soon followed. Games like *Supermarket Chaos* or *Needle in a Haystack Simulator* have multiplied rapidly. They’re all puzzle games, but that kind of imitation will be simple for AI to conduct. Even if AI can create various works by analyzing the atmosphere of games from creators like Fumito Ueda, such as *ICO* and *Shadow of the Colossus*, it won’t be able to replicate the unique vision that Ueda himself will bring to future projects.”
In essence, while Sakurai is concerned about the future of originality in gaming, he believes that if the pioneers of game design continue to carve out space for fresh ideas, the industry will endure. Even though he will no longer present the award he established, he remains hopeful that originality will continue to flourish, as its absence could spell the end of the industry itself.
