Smash Bros. Creator Masahiro Sakurai Spent $630,000 On His YouTube Channel

Masahiro Sakurai recently ended the content he planned for his YouTube Channel “Masahiro Sakurai on Creating Games.” Sakurai spent just over two years posting videos about his views on game development. In his final video, he broke down what it took to make each video for the channel. This includes the roughly $630,000 (90,000,000 yen) he spent to make it a reality.

Sakurai, known for creating franchises like Super Smash Bros. and Kirby, also explained the rather intense process he set for himself. He starts the video by asking if we think he looks older than he does in his other videos. It seems like a silly thing to ask, partially because the man hasn’t aged since 2001. But it turns out, everything that has aired on the channel over the last two years was scripted out and recorded in 2022. The exception to that is this current video. He’s known for his attention to detail and thorough planning, but even this is kind of crazy.

In his video, he explains how he got to this $630,000 price tag. For starters, Sakurai does not monetize any of the content on his channel. He states that it’s all on here to help uplift the game industry as a whole. Whether your a game developer, manager, or even just a fan, he hopes that his channel can help you appreciate and create better games.

The bulk of the costs came from editing. While he recorded the videos in 2022, they didn’t receive the slick visual packaging all at once. That’s where the work has been going into over the last 2 years. Another company, Hike, was given the responsibility of editing his videos with footage and a shiny presentation. The cost shows in the editing, which has been extremely professional-looking from the start. That doesn’t mean Sakurai was hands-off, however, as he would go through each video and request changes. This was work he did at night when his day job was over.

By the way, Sakurai has been working on an unknown game since 2022. Just in case you thought he would rest on his laurels after Smash Bros. Ultimate.

As for the rest of the budget, localization was the second biggest piece. While he thought about only doing the channel in Japanese originally, he decided to do an English version as well. For that, he enlisted the help of the well-known localization company 8-4 Play. The company has helped with a number of incredible games including Fire Emblem, Deltarune, and so many more. The final sliver in his budget was marked “other.” That includes some special events he hosted with Retro Game Master and a few other licensing bits.

Overall, this money is being considered a donation to the industry at large. He considers his time to be volunteer work. Sakurai knows he’s getting older, and wanted to give something that could help the industry for years to come, rather than just make another game. If you haven’t seen the channel, it’s a great look at the video game industry from one of the best to do it. He even did a video all about his cat, as any good pet owner would do.