Super Smash Bros. creator says Wii U version is likely his last
Pressure of improving each game "wound up tightening the noose around my neck".
Super Smash Bros. creator and director Masahiro Sakurai has said that he is unlikely to make another game in the series.
Sakurai explained that he could not rule out future Smash Bros. games being released, but that these would probably be developed without his involvement.
"I can't positively declare there won't be [another Smash Bros. game]," Sakurai told Game Informer (thanks CVG).
"With both Melee and Brawl, I made those games with the thought that there wouldn't be any more sequels. Thus, I really can't deny the chance for another.
"However, as for myself, I don't think there will be."
Sakurai has spoken in the past of the personal toll involved in leading development on such huge projects - and how he has continually felt pressured to up the ante with each subsequent release.
"In terms of scope, and in terms of sheer number of characters, we went beyond our limits long ago," he explained.
"And yet, if we cut the number of fighters or modes in a future game, I'm sure there would be complaints."
Super Smash Bros. for 3DS and Wii U feature the largest character roster of the series to date, with 51 characters included in the base game.
The series has become known for including a plethora of extra modes, features and fan service which long-term players have come to expect.
"You could say that all the effort in the past to stretch out, keep pushing myself, and provide all these extra merits wound up tightening the noose around my neck in the future," Sakurai concluded.
"That may seem like it contradicts my personal desire to keep giving gamers as much as I can, but I don't see any easy answer for it. And yet, despite that, I also have trouble picturing someone else taking my place and providing all this value-added content without me."
Sakurai has expressed his doubts about making more Smash Bros. games in the past - only to be tempted back into the director's chair by Nintendo.
There's no word yet on what he may work on next. Sakurai's last non-Smash Bros. game, Kid Icarus: Uprising, launched for 3DS back in 2012.