Super Smash Bros. Creator Says He Doesn’t Take Sick Days

Masahiro Sakurai was once hooked up to an IV drip so he could continue working.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Masahiro Sakurai takes Smash seriously. On particularly bad days, the series creator would go into work with an IV drip attached to his arm. Talk about dedication.

The information comes from a direct interview from Nintendo Dream, translated by Nintendo Everything. The interview covered a range of topics from new Smash stages all the way to Sakurai’s personal health and his own personal sick day policies.

“I’m a freelancer, so I don’t have any strict rules on my time. As long as I can complete the game, I could show up to the office once per week and I think it’d be within the realm of forgiveness. But instead I make sure I come to work every day and write proper daily reports and such.”

Sakurai continued, telling Nintendo Dream that he “still had a lot of stomach problems.”

“It was like I got food poisoning from some oysters that I didn’t eat. It was like my food had come into contact with them or something. But I cook my food thoroughly… Why did I get sick?”
Instead of taking time off, Sakurai heads to work with an IV drip stuck to his arm and a smile on his face. However, he made sure to let fans know that he wasn’t overdoing it.

“I made some changes from what I used to do compared to now. For example, as a principle, I always left the office by 10 PM, no matter what.”

Over the years, the Super Smash Bros. creator has had some pretty public health issues. 5 years ago, Sakurai was dealing with a particularly bad case of calcific tendonitis and ruptured muscle tissues, causing him to lose precious development time on Super Smash Bros. 3DS. It had become so bad that Sakurai was only able to use his left hand to playtest the game, an impressive feat to say the least.

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