Sora Ltd.

Sora Ltd. (, Sora Company Limited) is a Japanese video game developer founded by former HAL Laboratory employee Masahiro Sakurai. It was formed in the years following Sakurai's resignation from his position at HAL Laboratory. Although it is considered a video game developer, it is merely used by Sakurai to conduct business with other companies, and therefore outsources development on its games to other developers. Its only employees are Sakurai and his wife, Michiko.

Sora Ltd.'s first game was , a puzzle game for the Nintendo DS that Sakurai directed while was the primary developer. Their next game was Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Like Meteos, Sakurai directed the project, but most of the development was handled by Game Arts and Monolith Soft.

For a while, Sakurai ran Project Sora, a joint venture between Sora Ltd. and Nintendo, which was started in January 2009. An important distinction between Sora Ltd. and Project Sora is that the former is not officially affiliated with Nintendo; Project Sora allowed Sakurai to use Nintendo's resources for game development. It only developed Kid Icarus: Uprising for the Nintendo 3DS before officially closing on June 30, 2012.

Sora Ltd.'s next game, Super Smash Bros. 4, co-developed by Bandai Namco, was released for the Nintendo 3DS under the name in Japan on September 13, 2014, and on October 3, 2014 in North America and Europe, as well as releasing on the Wii U under the name  on December 6, 2014 in Japan, on November 21, 2014 in North America, and on November 28, 2014 in Europe.

The company's latest release, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, which was co-developed with the same team at Bandai Namco, was released worldwide on December 7, 2018 for the Nintendo Switch.

In Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Sora Ltd. and its founder, Masahiro Sakurai, co-developed the game along with Game Arts and Monolith Soft.

In Super Smash Bros. 4
Sora Ltd. and Sakurai returned as developer alongside Bandai Namco. returns from Brawl, along with the debut of and. All of them are based on their appearances in , which Sora Ltd. developed. Magnus and Phosphora debut as Assist Trophies. Reaper and Souflee appear in Smash Run and Smash Tour. Several items from Uprising debut in this game, with a majority also appearing in Smash Tour. Viridi appears as a background character and a DLC Mii Costume. 11 music tracks and numerous trophies based on elements from Uprising appear.

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS
Reset Bomb Forest debuts on 3DS. Several enemies from Uprising appear exclusively on Smash Run. Several trophies appear exclusively on 3DS.

Super Smash Bros. for Wii U
Palutena's Temple debuts on Wii U. Several trophies and their corresponding Trophy Boxes appear exclusively on Wii U.

In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Sora Ltd and Sakurai returned as developer alongside Bandai Namco. , and  return, again based on their appearances in Uprising. Reset Bomb Forest and Palutena's Temple return as stages. All items from Smash 4 return along with the debut of Staff. Phosphora returns as an Assist Trophy. The Viridi Mii Costume returns. 9 new and old music and numerous spirits based on Uprising appear.

Trivia

 * During the Battling with Sora edition of Mr. Sakurai Presents, Masahiro Sakurai acknowledges that both the character and his company share a name. He affirms that this is a coincidence, as is a common Japanese word that translates to "Sky."