Long live Kirby!

Kirby recently celebrated his 25th anniversary. Somehow, 25 years have already passed since Kirby made his debut, and the character is doing better than ever! In a message shared to celebrate the anniversary, HAL's Shinya Kumazaki talked about the company's commitment to the Kirby brand, and their eagerness to keep pushing forward. Check out a snippet, as translated by NintendoEverything, below.

Kirby has not only traversed many different game worlds, but over these 25 years has also branched out rapidly into the worlds of merchandise and live events. As much as anyone in the development team, those creating and planning these elements for HAL Laboratory are just as bold in pushing the boundaries of the Kirby brand in surprising new ways. These are the things we have to keep trying to do as a business… otherwise we’ll get slack. When we’re making new products, we must always be thinking: ‘if we try so hard that we’re basically overdoing it, our fans are bound to be happy’. This is an ethic we continue with even now.

Of course, attempting the unknown comes with its own struggles and failures. Getting over those large hurdles is difficult, but the important thing is that we have to keep trying in order to see those smiles on the faces of our fans, and even on that round Kirby head. That desire is what gives us the energy to continue.

But I also think that all we have achieved until now is simply a waypoint on Kirby’s long journey. Each and every day the team is also looking to the future and growing. We’ll continue as long as there is at least one person enjoying our games. While there are fans there wanting to play a new game in the series, I believe we’ll continue to grow alongside our character and take on those fun and more serious new challenges head on. Please look forward to whatever lies ahead for Kirby in the future!