With Kazuya Mishima from Tekken now playable in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, only one more character remains for the Fighters Pass Vol. 2. During the “Mr. Sakurai presents Kazuya” video, Masahiro Sakurai once again asserted that the next character was not only the last for the Fighters Pass Vol. 2, but also declared that it would be the final challenger for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
Towards the end of the presentation, Sakurai began reminiscing about how long he’s been working on the Super Smash Bros. series through this continuous cycle.
“Up until now, we’ve created all sorts of fighters and stages,” said Sakurai. “Gathering all of these games, new and old, and compiling them into a single product is a task that has meant a lot to me.”
“Now that I think about it, it’s been close to 10 years since Super Smash Bros. for the Wii U and 3DS systems were in development,” continued Sakurai. “I’ve been working on this for a long time. You could call it my life’s work.”
During the development of Super Smash Bros. 4’s DLC, Nintendo gave fans an opportunity to submit requests via the Smash Ballot. We later learned that the Smash Ballot was mostly used to develop Super Smash Bros. Ultimate’s roster as plans for a Smash title for the Nintendo Switch were already being worked on at the time.
“But finally, the next DLC fighter will be the last one. There won’t be any more after that. It’ll be a while before that announcement, but it’ll be available this year as planned, so please be patient.” – Masahiro Sakurai
This project has obviously been very special to Masahiro Sakurai and even goes so far as to think of it as the last mission given to him by his late friend and boss, Satoru Iwata.
“But finally, the next DLC fighter will be the last one. There won’t be any more after that,” stated Sakurai. “It’ll be a while before that announcement, but it’ll be available this year as planned, so please be patient.”
After Byleth was initially announced for the first Fighters Pass, we learned that the Fighters Pass Vol. 2 was scheduled to be released by or before December 31, 2021. Shortly after this, the COVID-19 global pandemic occurred.
Masahiro Sakurai actually took the time to assure fans that the Fighters Pass Vol. 2 would be completed as promised, and it looks like that promise is to be fulfilled. With these complications, the developers have had to work on DLC fighters from their homes rather than from the office.
“It seems like the team will have to complete this project at home, right up until the end,” concluded Sakurai.
On multiple occasions, Masahiro Sakurai has talked about how post launch development of DLC for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate will end after the Fighters Pass Vol. 2 is wrapped up. Even still, some fans have been hopeful about the possibility of additional content after the Fighters Pass Vol. 2’s last characters are released.
It really does feel like there can be no room for misinterpretation in Sakurai’s words at this point. The next character is very likely going to be Super Smash Bros. Ultimate’s final challenger. To avoid disappointment, we shouldn’t expect any surprises to be announced afterwards.
