Smash DLC Fighter Delay “Highly Probable,” Sakurai’s Future a “Blank Slate”

Beloved game developer Masahiro Sakurai’s passion and heart shine through in every project he creates. Nowhere is this more evident than in Super Smash Brothers Ultimate, 2018’s highly successful fifth entry in the popular fighting game series.

Even now, Sakurai is continuing to work hard on even more Smash-related content. A number of downloadable content (DLC) characters, including Persona’s Joker, Banjo-Kazooie’s titular duo, and, most recently, Fire Emblem: Three Houses’ Byleth, debuted throughout 2019 and 2020. Currently, a second Fighter Pack featuring six all-new characters is in development.

In an interview with Famitsu, Sakurai was questioned regarding the development process of the second round of DLC fighters. The developer admitted that there was a “high probability” that current concerns regarding the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic would delay the release of the characters.

Sakurai stated that a presentation he was supposed to give regarding “plans for a certain new character” was postponed indefinitely. When pressed for further details regarding who he was meeting with or which franchise the character might come from, he clammed up and refused to provided specifics. He was also unable to provide a tentative date or even time frame when the next upcoming fighter might be announced.

In addition, the Famitsu interviewer questioned Sakurai regarding his plans for future projects after the second round of Smash Ultimate DLC concludes. His response indicated that he had not made any solid decisions. He stated that Smash DLC was “all he could think about” at the current time and that any future projects were “a totally blank slate”. Although he has discussed retirement several times in the past, he did not specifically mention whether or not Smash Ultimate would be his last project.

Sakurai has been known to work extremely long hours, often to the detriment of his own health, when designing and creating a game. We can only hope that Sakurai’s post-Smash plans include taking a nice long break.

What fighters are you hoping for during the second wave of Super Smash Brothers: Ultimate DLC? What projects would you like to see Sakurai announce next? Let us know!

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