{"id":72548,"date":"2026-09-16T13:54:03","date_gmt":"2026-09-16T04:54:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/?p=72548"},"modified":"2026-09-16T13:59:28","modified_gmt":"2026-09-16T04:59:28","slug":"masahiro-sakurai-discontinues-game-designers-award-after-16-years-after-failing-to-find-successor-warns-fellow-devs-that-an-industry-without-originality-will-die-a-slow-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/masahiro-sakurai-discontinues-game-designers-award-after-16-years-after-failing-to-find-successor-warns-fellow-devs-that-an-industry-without-originality-will-die-a-slow-death\/","title":{"rendered":"Masahiro Sakurai discontinues Game Designers Award after 16 years after failing to find successor, warns fellow devs that an industry without originality \u201cwill die a slow death\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Smash Bros and Kirby creator Masahiro Sakurai announced on September 15 during the Japan Game Awards 2026 that he will be discontinuing the \u201cGame Designers Award\u201d category of the awards show. During the ceremony, he talked about the reason behind his decision, while also sharing his thoughts on the importance of maintaining originality in games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"\u65e5\u672c\u30b2\u30fc\u30e0\u5927\u8cde2026\u300c\u7d4c\u6e08\u7523\u696d\u5927\u81e3\u8cde\u30fb\u5e74\u9593\u4f5c\u54c1\u90e8\u9580\u300d \u767a\u8868\u6388\u8cde\u5f0f\" width=\"1160\" height=\"653\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/BaYr8clG9mw?start=5370&amp;feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Created by Sakurai in 2010, The Game Designers Award recognized games based on their creativity and innovation. On top of scouting and inviting judges (all of whom need to be directors who have made innovative games &#8211; the likes of Fumito Ueda, Shinji Mikami and even Toby Fox), Sakurai also serves as head judge, presents the nominees on stage, and gives the award to the winner. However, after 16 years in the busy role, Sakurai says he wasn\u2019t able to find anyone that would replace him in leading the panel. Considering how he balances his award duties while working on his games, perhaps it\u2019s understandable that he hasn\u2019t been able to find a willing successor, despite years of searching.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sakurai also laid bare what he called a harsh truth, telling his industry peers that \u201coriginality doesn\u2019t really have much impact on sales.\u201d However, he added that the game industry is built on the creativity of many people, and that \u201can industry that loses its originality will simply die a slow death.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The last game to receive the Game Designers Award at the Japan Game Awards 2026 was <a href=\"https:\/\/store.steampowered.com\/app\/1109570\/Word_Game\/?curator_clanid=40670073\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Word Game<\/a>, an interactive puzzle title by Team9 composed of words that represent objects, characters, and scenes. By altering the meaning of the on-screen text, you solve puzzles and progress through a word-based world. Due to core mechanics heavily relying on Chinese characters, the game is not playable in English.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1377\" height=\"854\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1377px) 100vw, 1377px\" src=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/20260916-72548-001.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-72551\" srcset=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/20260916-72548-001.jpg 1377w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/20260916-72548-001-380x236.jpg 380w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/20260916-72548-001-768x476.jpg 768w\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Related: <a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/stop-using-masahiro-sakurai-to-attack-other-developers-japanese-users-criticize-use-of-smash-creators-game-design-advice-in-growingly-negative-domestic-gaming-com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">\u201cStop using Masahiro Sakurai to attack other developers.\u201d Japanese users criticize use of Smash creator\u2019s game design advice in growingly negative domestic gaming community<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/masahiro-sakurai-says-there-is-a-shortage-of-all-rounder-game-directors-in-the-industry-with-devs-becoming-increasingly-specialized-in-narrow-fields\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Masahiro Sakurai says there is a shortage of \u201call-rounder\u201d game directors in the industry, with devs becoming increasingly specialized in narrow fields<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The last game to receive the award was Word Game by Taiwan-based developer Team9.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":67,"featured_media":72550,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","autoblue_enabled":false,"autoblue_custom_message":"","autoblue_shares":[],"autoblue_post_url":"","autoblue_publish_document":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[17],"class_list":["post-72548","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-japan-related-news"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Masahiro Sakurai discontinues Game Designers Award after 16 years after failing to find successor, warns fellow devs that an industry without originality \u201cwill die a slow death\u201d - AUTOMATON WEST<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/masahiro-sakurai-discontinues-game-designers-award-after-16-years-after-failing-to-find-successor-warns-fellow-devs-that-an-industry-without-originality-will-die-a-slow-death\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Masahiro Sakurai discontinues Game Designers Award after 16 years after failing to find successor, warns fellow devs that an industry without originality \u201cwill die a slow death\u201d - AUTOMATON WEST\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The last game to receive the award was Word Game by Taiwan-based developer Team9.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/masahiro-sakurai-discontinues-game-designers-award-after-16-years-after-failing-to-find-successor-warns-fellow-devs-that-an-industry-without-originality-will-die-a-slow-death\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"AUTOMATON WEST\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-09-16T04:54:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-09-16T04:59:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/20260916-72548-header.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1323\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"735\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Carlos &quot;Zoto&quot; Zotomayor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@AUTOMATON_ENG\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@AUTOMATON_ENG\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Carlos &quot;Zoto&quot; Zotomayor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Masahiro Sakurai discontinues Game Designers Award after 16 years after failing to find successor, warns fellow devs that an industry without originality \u201cwill die a slow death\u201d - AUTOMATON WEST","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/masahiro-sakurai-discontinues-game-designers-award-after-16-years-after-failing-to-find-successor-warns-fellow-devs-that-an-industry-without-originality-will-die-a-slow-death\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Masahiro Sakurai discontinues Game Designers Award after 16 years after failing to find successor, warns fellow devs that an industry without originality \u201cwill die a slow death\u201d - AUTOMATON WEST","og_description":"The last game to receive the award was Word Game by Taiwan-based developer Team9.","og_url":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/masahiro-sakurai-discontinues-game-designers-award-after-16-years-after-failing-to-find-successor-warns-fellow-devs-that-an-industry-without-originality-will-die-a-slow-death\/","og_site_name":"AUTOMATON WEST","article_published_time":"2026-09-16T04:54:03+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-09-16T04:59:28+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1323,"height":735,"url":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/20260916-72548-header.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Carlos \"Zoto\" Zotomayor","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@AUTOMATON_ENG","twitter_site":"@AUTOMATON_ENG","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Carlos \"Zoto\" Zotomayor","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/masahiro-sakurai-discontinues-game-designers-award-after-16-years-after-failing-to-find-successor-warns-fellow-devs-that-an-industry-without-originality-will-die-a-slow-death\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/masahiro-sakurai-discontinues-game-designers-award-after-16-years-after-failing-to-find-successor-warns-fellow-devs-that-an-industry-without-originality-will-die-a-slow-death\/"},"author":{"name":"Carlos \"Zoto\" Zotomayor","@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/2812ca8facd5f161edfbc531cf81eb31"},"headline":"Masahiro Sakurai discontinues Game Designers Award after 16 years after failing to find successor, warns fellow devs that an industry without originality \u201cwill die a slow death\u201d","datePublished":"2026-09-16T04:54:03+00:00","dateModified":"2026-09-16T04:59:28+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/masahiro-sakurai-discontinues-game-designers-award-after-16-years-after-failing-to-find-successor-warns-fellow-devs-that-an-industry-without-originality-will-die-a-slow-death\/"},"wordCount":380,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/masahiro-sakurai-discontinues-game-designers-award-after-16-years-after-failing-to-find-successor-warns-fellow-devs-that-an-industry-without-originality-will-die-a-slow-death\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/20260916-72548-header.jpg","keywords":["News (Japan-related)"],"articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/masahiro-sakurai-discontinues-game-designers-award-after-16-years-after-failing-to-find-successor-warns-fellow-devs-that-an-industry-without-originality-will-die-a-slow-death\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/masahiro-sakurai-discontinues-game-designers-award-after-16-years-after-failing-to-find-successor-warns-fellow-devs-that-an-industry-without-originality-will-die-a-slow-death\/","url":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/masahiro-sakurai-discontinues-game-designers-award-after-16-years-after-failing-to-find-successor-warns-fellow-devs-that-an-industry-without-originality-will-die-a-slow-death\/","name":"Masahiro Sakurai discontinues Game Designers Award after 16 years after failing to find successor, warns fellow devs that an industry without originality \u201cwill die a slow death\u201d - 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