Masahiro Sakurai founded the Game Designers Award in 2010 and is its chief judge; he announced at a September 15 ceremony that the award will end in 2026. He is also booked as an MC for NHK's rebroadcast of the Symphonic Gamers 5 concert, which airs on NHK BS at 0:40 on September 20 (late night September 19).
Masahiro Sakurai's two most recent appearances on the beat are a closing ceremony and a television booking. On September 15 he announced the end of the Game Designers Award, the prize he founded in 2010 and has served as chief judge of. The award closes in 2026 after 17 winners, running from Heavy Rain in 2010 to Moji Yuge in 2026. Sakurai made the announcement himself at the ceremony rather than naming a successor.
Two days earlier, NHK confirmed that its game music concert Symphonic Gamers 5, subtitled Melodies of Adventure Across Time and Space, returns to NHK BS at 0:40 on September 20, late night on September 19. Sakurai and voice actress Ruriko Aoki are the MCs. The broadcast covers an orchestral program drawn from the Super Mario series, the Monster Hunter series, Kirby Air Ride, Chrono Trigger, Journey, Shadow of the Colossus, Tales of the Abyss, Granblue Fantasy, Okami, Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin, and Final Fantasy IX.
Both stories put Sakurai in front of an audience for game culture rather than a specific new title: one as the person ending an originality prize, the other as a host for an orchestra program. Neither story names a new game project from him, so the picture here is limited to the award's closure and the concert rebroadcast.
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The Game Designers Award, founded in 2010 by game director Masahiro Sakurai, will end in 2026. Sakurai, who is chief judge, announced the close at a ceremony on September 15. Seventeen works won the award across its run, from Heavy Rain in 2010 to Moji Yuge in 2026. The theme is the evaluation of games' originality and novelty.
NHK's game music concert Symphonic Gamers 5, subtitled Melodies of Adventure Across Time and Space, returns to NHK BS at 0:40 on September 20, late night on September 19. The broadcast covers an orchestral program drawn from the Super Mario series, the Monster Hunter series, Kirby Air Ride, Chrono Trigger, Journey, Shadow of the Colossus, Tales of the Abyss, Granblue Fantasy, Okami, Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin, and Final Fantasy IX. Game director Masahiro Sakurai and voice actress Ruriko Aoki appear as MCs. The setlist runs from Super Mario's Above Ground BGM and Piranha March through Monster Hunter's Proof of a Hero and its Wilds version, Kirby Air Ride's Legendary Air Ride Machine, Chrono Trigger's Wind Scene and Frog's Theme, Okami's Reset (Thank You Version), Sakuna's Yanato Rice Planting Song, and Final Fantasy IX's Battle 1 and The Place I'll Return to Someday. NHK's official website and the streaming service NHK ONE carry performer and setlist details.