Masahiro Sakurai, the legendary director behind iconic Nintendo games and franchises such as Super Smash Bros. and Kirby Air Riders, has revealed that the “Game Designers Award” category at the Japan Game Awards is being discontinued.

The award has been around since 2010 and recognizes games based on their creativity and innovation. Sakurai has served as the head judge while also helping select the nominees. During the Japan Game Awards 2026, he explained that the category is coming to an end as he was unable to find a suitable successor to take over his role.

Sakurai also shared his thoughts on the current state of the industry, offering a rather harsh assessment when it comes to originality in games:

“I am going to say something pretty harsh, but originality doesn’t really have much of an impact on sales. I actually think it ranks pretty low on the priority list. Everyone likely feels the same way, right? For example, with convenience store drinks, there probably aren’t many people who go out and try every single new drink that comes out.

The more accustomed people become to something, the closer it gets towards being a standard, or rather, I think people tend to want a taste that matches their preferences and meets their expectations.

However, an industry that loses its originality will ultimately just die a slow death. I believe the industry exists today because of the people who pioneered new inventions and created new forms of enjoyment.

“The Game Designers” Award will come to an end, but I hope you will continue to look out for novelty, originality, and the unique qualities that set a game apart. Thank you very much for everything.”

The final title to receive the Game Designers Award at the Japan Game Awards 2026 was Word Game, an interactive puzzle game from Team9 in which words themselves represent objects, characters, and environments.

Thanks to Automaton Media for the news tip today. For more Nintendo news, you can check out our coverage here.