Sakurai: AI Can't Steal Truly Original Games, But They're Harder to Sell

Ever wonder why so many games feel like copies of each other lately? Masahiro Sakurai, the legendary mind behind Kirby and Super Smash Bros, has some thoughts on that — and they involve generative AI.

In a chat with Japanese outlet Denfaminico Gamer (translated by Google, DeepL, and the like), Sakurai laid out a layered problem. For starters, originality just doesn't sell like it used to. Standing out is hard, getting players on board is harder. That pushes developers toward established genres and familiar ideas — which is exactly where AI becomes dangerous.

Here's Sakurai's key point: AI can only draw on what's come before. It can't create anything new. But if your game leans on well-trodden mechanics, you're a prime target for a gen-AI lookalike. He points to Librarian, a game released this past April where you simply tidy up an old library. That kind of simplicity is ripe for AI because the base elements are easy to understand and retool.

This isn't a brand-new problem, but it's getting worse. Before AI, you had asset flips and reskins — devs copying trendy games for a quick buck. Now AI and vibe-coding have supercharged that practice. More and more studios are finding their biggest competition isn't other passionate creators, but bandwagon jumpers.

Sakurai doesn't split hairs between indie and big studios here — he sees the issue across the board. The one saving grace? He believes most of these AI-driven projects will die in obscurity. Anyone who's tried to launch a game on Steam knows that struggle well. With dozens of new releases every single day, breaking out is brutal.

So what's the fix? There aren't any easy solutions. Sakurai's advice is simple: be wary, and save your money and attention for human-made games. You never know — you might just find the next Kirby waiting for you.

What do you think — is AI a real threat to the games you love, or just noise? Will you be paying closer attention to who's actually making your games?