Few fan bases are as hungry for news as the one that surrounds the crossover-centric Super Smash Bros Ultimate, but it sounds as if the excitement that accompanies each new DLC character reveal may soon be at an end. Fans have had one heck of a ride with newcomer reveals for Ultimate thus far, with fan-favorites like King K Rool joining in the base game and even the Microsoft-owned Banjo and Kazooie joining Smash as DLC a few months later. It's been a fantastic journey, but there are always more gaming characters that people want to see join the fray.
Major fan requests for Smash Bros range from the more obscure like Geno from Super Mario RPG to legitimate gaming icons like Crash Bandicoot. As a result, fandoms have surrounded mascots from all walks of life, but no one has a clue who may join the fight next. While speculation rages on, what fans do know is that there are only five more fighters left to be revealed in the game's ongoing Fighters Pass Vol. 2.
Despite fans holding out hope that Smash Ultimate will receive additional DLC characters for years to come, a recent article penned by Smash Bros creator Masahiro Sakurai in the Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu (translated via PushDustIn and Sephazon) seems to confirm that Fighters Pass Vol 2 will officially mark the end of his work on the series. At least, that's the current plan according to the famed game developer.
There are a few things that are important to note about this statement before people take it as a guarantee that Smash Ultimate's DLC is coming to an end. Chief among them is that Sakurai isn't an employee of Nintendo and therefore needs to sign on for each project, while the second is that it's unlikely that Nintendo won't want to begin work on the next Smash game given that Ultimate is the best-selling fighting game of all time. Although, it's possible they may attempt to make an entry without him – however unlikely that possibility is.
It's possible that Smash Ultimate DLC (which is currently set to conclude in December 2021) will continue on for another season, but this decision is likely still an internal discussion at Nintendo right now. This seems especially likely with roughly a year and a half still left in Vol 2's DLC development cycle, but a decision on what's next for the Super Smash Bros series will presumably be made soon. In the meantime, it sounds as if it won't be long before the next Smash Bros Ultimate DLC fighter is revealed.
Super Smash Bros Ultimate is currently available exclusively on Nintendo Switch. It is currently scheduled to receive five more DLC characters as part of the game's Fighters Pass Vol 2 which will end in December 2021.
Sources: PushDustIn - Twitter, Sephazon - Twitter