Sakurai names Game Arts as Super Smash Bros. Brawl developer

People sometimes keep things under wraps until the right time to reveal their secrets to the world arrives. Such is the case with the former mystery developer of Super Smash Brothers Brawl which has now been officially identified.

Game director Masahiro Sakurai named Game Arts as the developer behind the upcoming game in a recent interview, and also explained how Game Arts came to work with Nintendo on Super Smash Brothers Brawl in the first place. More on that after the jump.

Some mysteries have remained mysteries for the longest time; others have only recently been explained. One example of the latter case is the identity of the secret developer of Super Smash Brothers Brawl, whom director Masahiro Sakurai identified as Game Arts in a recent interview.

If you recall, Game Arts was the same developer responsible for the Grandia and Lunar series of RPGs, as well as the Sylpheed shooter games. Sakurai-san mentioned that the Nintendo’s Super Smash Brothers Brawl team had been looking for help, so they secured some staff members from another developer, namely Game Arts:

It was Game Arts. It was just after they had finished Grandia III and they told us that they had some staff free. So, we decided to leave the main part of preliminary development to them while we began to hire remaining staff. We did so by looking for people specifically for the Smash Bros. Brawl title.

Masahiro Sakurai also discussed a host of other topics, including his reason for working freelance and establishing rapport with members of a development team in such circumstances. If you’d like more information on those, simply follow the source link back to the full interview.