A recent interview with Masahiro Sakurai - the creator and director of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate - gives insight into what the future of the series could look like, with Sakurai implying that the next installment in the series would have a significantly smaller roster of fighters than the current iteration of the game. Sakurai said goodbye to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate this past October with the release of the last Fighters Pass DLC for the game, leaving many fans to wonder what was next for the beloved series.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is one of the most ambitious video games in recent history, featuring a massive roster of 89 playable characters. This roster is a big draw for players - classic Nintendo heroes and villains like Mario and Bowser can fight alongside famous third-party characters like Solid Snake and Pac-Man. While the game was released in 2018, Nintendo continued to release content for the title until the fall of 2021 in the form of Fighter Passes, adding in a total of 15 additional fighters to the game's initial 74. Masahiro Sakurai has been the leader of the Smash Bros. team from the beginning, serving as director for every game in the series. Sakurai has been crucial to the development of the series, so much so that he's stated a new Smash Bros. title couldn't be developed without him.
In a recent interview with with The Verge, Sakurai detailed how much work it's been to add so many characters into Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, particularly the Fighter Pass DLCs, saying, "Fans are paying extra for these additional characters, so we tell ourselves that we need to strive and do our best to deliver content that is more than worthy. Given that, adding one piece of DLC fighter and their accompanying stages, music, and other content proved to be a greater challenge than adding one piece of content in the base game." Sakurai largely worked alone on the game, which has proved to be extremely draining for the designer - in the past it has even been rumored Sakurai would retire from the Super Smash Bros. team for his own health. Looking ahead to the future of the Smash Bros. series, he believes the next installment would need to have a reduced roster in order to be possible, stating that: "I think we’ve reached the limit, at least in terms of volume of content and fighters. Basically, if I were to have the opportunity to work on another Super Smash Bros. game, that means we would have to shrink the roster, but we need to think about whether fans would be pleased about that."
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate has left big shoes to fill when it comes to a sequel - the game's expansive roster was a big part of what drew so many players to the game. Sakurai's comments on downsizing the amount of fighters in the next game are sure to displease a lot of fans who love the variety the series provides. However, there are certainly many long-time fans of the series who would be happy to see a new installment that focuses more on things like fighting mechanics than roster size.
Currently, the future of the Super Smash Bros. series is uncertain - with no officially planned sequel in the works and Sakurai's statements regarding a downsized roster, many fans are left wondering about what the future of the Smash Bros. series looks like. If there is another installment in the series, it will most likely be developed by a larger creative team than previous titles. A new team could mean a new direction for the Super Smash Bros. series - whether that new direction will be a hit with fans remains to be seen.
Source: The Verge
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