Studios that do not use AI will fall behind, believes Super Smash Bros. and Kirby creator

Yet Masahiro Sakurai himself supposedly does not use AI and, by his own logic, is falling behind.

Kirby and Super Smash Bros. series creator Masahiro Sakurai shared his thoughts on generative artificial intelligence and discussed the challenges facing the modern gaming industry. Although the developer himself does not yet use AI in his work as a matter of principle, he believes that completely ignoring the advancement of this technology could be dangerous for game creators.

According to Sakurai, he currently does not rely on generative AI in his work at all, including when brainstorming ideas and solving creative tasks. He explained that game development requires far more than just coming up with an interesting concept. One must factor in deadlines, team capabilities, budget, and many other considerations that are difficult to fully convey in an AI prompt.

The developer concedes that in the future, the technology may become sophisticated enough to assist even during the brainstorming phase. However, in his view, it has not yet reached the required level.

He is also skeptical about using artificial intelligence for art creation. In the developer’s view, the technology has not yet earned sufficient trust from game creators and should not turn into a tool of exploitation. Furthermore, under current conditions, creating graphical assets on one’s own is often faster than attempting to achieve the desired result with AI.

However, Sakurai urges people not to view a total rejection of the new technology as the only right stance. He believes the gaming industry is in an extremely difficult position, and developing modern projects requires incomparably more resources than before.

As an example, the Kirby creator cited Kirby Air Riders, whose production required roughly ten times more work compared to the original Kirby Air Ride. At the same time, even games that sell millions of copies do not always allow their developers to turn a profit.

Against this backdrop, Sakurai believes that studios refusing to adopt generative AI on principle due to a lack of trust in the technology risk gradually falling behind their competitors. He suggests that developers willing to experiment with AI without hesitation and effectively leverage its capabilities could potentially release significantly more games.