The Real Reason Smash Bros Developer Won't Reveal What Game He's Playing
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate has been out for around a year and a half, but it still has a few surprises in store for fans. The game continues to add new DLC characters, with each one bringing with it an insane amount of hype. Unfortunately, that hype has led to a somewhat frustrating situation for series creator and director Masahiro Sakurai.
Recently, Smash Bros. fans began to speculate that Sakurai was teasing a new character for the game when he started posting screenshots from Ultimate on his Twitter account. Bizarrely, these screenshots were all of characters and stages that were already present in the current version of the game. Still, much like fans of the Grand Theft Auto series, Smash Bros. diehards are more than eager to search for any signs of a new update.
In an interview with Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu (translation via Nintendo Life), Sakurai explained that he can't even share with the public the kinds of games he's enjoying anymore. According to Sakurai, he does in fact have a healthy gaming habit, but he feels as though he can't tell people what he's playing without stirring up some kind of unwanted fan speculation.
As Sakurai explained to Famitsu, "I normally play a ton of games, but if people find out what kinds of games I'm playing, they have a tendency to start making a fuss over, 'Did Sakurai just confirm so-and-so for Smash?!' These misunderstandings spread like wildfire particularly in countries abroad." He says he also avoids doing any appearances on talk shows and the like for these very reasons.
Sakurai has been refreshingly candid surrounding all things Super Smash Bros Ultimate. He often gives players a good amount of insight into the thought process and development behind the scenes of the game. As such, he's also been very honest when it comes to the things he doesn't particularly love in the latest installment of the series.
For instance, he isn't particularly wild about the relatively recent addition of Byleth from Fire Emblem: Three Houses. In fact, Sakurai has said flat-out that he believes there are too many characters from the Fire Emblem series in the game. Not only that, but he felt there were too many characters in Super Smash Bros Ultimate that wielded swords as their main weapon.
In another interview with Famitsu (translation via SiliconEra), he actually wanted to make it abundantly clear that he doesn't choose the characters in the game. The DLCs in particular are chosen by Nintendo higher ups. Because of this, the implication seemed to be that Nintendo pushed for more Fire Emblem characters as a way of promoting the latest installments in the series. It definitely makes sense for Nintendo to do that for the sake of promotion. However, it does lead to the game designers having to come up with ways of differentiating these characters that seem to bring similar fighting styles to the table.
Sakurai told Famitsu, "I don't choose the fighters based on my own preference, that's for Nintendo to bring in ... these things are already decided, so we move forward. The things I should be thinking about are elsewhere."
It appears that this is something that Sakurai has to reiterate fairly often. However, there are apparently plenty of fans who still think that he has a say in which characters ultimately are added to the game. This definitely explains why he's so reluctant to tell people what he has been playing lately. After all, he doesn't want to start any unwarranted speculation as to future characters, particularly since those decisions aren't his to make. Sakurai seems to be trying to avoid disappointing gamers by accidentally getting their hopes up for a character that probably isn't even being considered for inclusion.
Still, it's worth noting that there are still some characters to be added in the current season of DLC fighters. All we know for sure is that one of the upcoming characters will be from ARMS, which should prove to be an interesting addition. However, we may be in for a bit of a wait. According to Sakurai, there have been concerns that the next Fighter Pass DLC may be delayed due to public health and safety concerns, particularly in Japan.
Hopefully we'll hear something soon regarding the future of the next Fighter Pass DLC. Also, maybe once Super Smash Bros. Ultimate releases its final DLC fighter, perhaps Masahiro Sakurai can get back to sharing the games he's currently playing with his fans.