Sakurai's Freedom: The Among Us Post That Shook Smash Fans

I still remember the exact moment I saw it. It was late 2021, and I was doom-scrolling through Twitter when a post from Masahiro Sakurai stopped me dead. There, in its pixelated glory, was a tiny Crewmate from Among Us, sitting on a shelf while a cat stared at it with murderous curiosity. No big announcement, no cryptic tease—just a man, his cat, and a little red bean-shaped figure. But to the Smash community, this was a seismic event.

Why did a single photo cause such a stir? Because for years, Sakurai had been a prisoner of his own creation. Every public move he made was dissected, analyzed, and twisted into a potential Super Smash Bros. Ultimate fighter reveal. Post a picture of a random game? That game’s protagonist was “confirmed.” Mention a favorite developer? Their mascot was “leaked.” The man couldn’t even breathe without sparking a thousand YouTube thumbnails. And honestly, who could blame the fans? We were hungry. We were obsessive. We were hungry obsessive fans riding the longest character reveal cycle in gaming history. But finally, with Sora from Kingdom Hearts joining the roster as the final fighter, Sakurai was unleashed.

The Among Us tweet was his declaration of independence. He even explained it himself, with a sense of relief you could feel through Google Translate: “With the development of ‘Smash Bros.’ finished, [I] no longer have to worry about suspicion of participating in the war. Now, even if [I] put out such a picture, there is no problem!” The war he spoke of wasn’t a literal battlefield—it was the relentless speculation war waged by millions of fans. Every casual post was a potential landmine. Now the mines have been cleared, and he could finally just be a guy who likes cats and tiny crewmates.

I’ll be honest: part of me was disappointed. An Among Us fighter is one of those ideas that sounds silly until you really think about it. The imposter mechanics, the vent-based recovery, the emergency meeting final smashes—it practically designs itself. Sakurai himself had once mused about the game’s clever social dynamics, comparing it to a card game where human interaction is key. But even back then, he wasn’t sure if the craze would last. And as we sit here in 2026, looking back, Among Us has certainly cooled from its pandemic peak. Yet the tweet remains iconic, not for what it promised, but for what it represented: the end of an era.

After that post, the Smash speculation machine ground to a halt. No more theories about which fighter would be next because there was no “next.” Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, the game that had consumed my life since 2018, was truly ultimate. The roster was final. The DLC was done. And Sakurai, the mad genius who had poured his soul into this crossover masterpiece, could finally relax. He started posting more random things—pictures of his cat, comments on other games, even meals he cooked. It felt oddly intimate, like being invited into his living room after years of only seeing him on a Nintendo Direct stage.

But the question lingers: was that tweet really just about freedom, or was there a tiny, mischievous part of Sakurai that enjoyed watching us squirm one last time? He had to know that dropping an Among Us figurine would reignite the dying embers of speculation. Maybe he wanted to give us one final moment of “What if?” before shutting the book forever. Or maybe he truly didn’t care anymore because the burden had been lifting. I prefer to think it was both—a playful parting gift from a director who understood his fans better than we understood ourselves.

Looking back now, in 2026, the landscape has changed. Ultimate still thrives, but there’s been no announcement of a new Smash game. Sakurai has taken on smaller projects, and the community has largely moved to other fighting games and platform fighters. The Among Us tweet is now a relic, a cultural artifact that perfectly captures the transition from hype to reflection. Whenever I see that image, I don’t think about missed opportunities. I think about how a simple picture of a plastic figure could symbolize the weight of an entire franchise—and the joy of letting it go.

So here’s to you, Sakurai. Post your cat photos. Share your weird figurines. Talk about that obscure retro game no one else remembers. You’ve earned the right to be ordinary. And if, by some miracle, a new Smash game ever does enter development, we’ll be right back to dissecting your every breath. But until then, enjoy the quiet. You have given us more than enough.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is available on the Nintendo Switch.

Source: Masahiro Sakurai/Twitter