Released as the holiday title for Nintendo in 2018, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate became a massive success for the company. Many fans viewed the game as the culmination of the franchise, as it brought together every fighter from every installment in the series. Following the immense success of the fighting game on the Nintendo Switch, many wondered what the next step would be for Super Smash Bros. and its creator Masahiro Sakurai.
Fortunately, it appears that gamers finally have some answers. Recently, Masahiro Sakurai discussed the prospects of a sequel to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. In an email interview with IGN, he revealed that he was currently not working on a new game in the series. Furthermore, he said that were no active plans to work on a new installment.
In addition to revealing that a new Super Smash Bros. game was not in development, he cautioned fans to stop assuming that there will be another entry. “It would be best not to assume that there will always be another one,” he said. According to Sakurai, it is difficult to imagine where the classic series could progress in the future. With 89 playable fighters in Smash Ultimate, it would be a daunting task to create a new game including even more fighters. This is a problem that Sakurai acknowledged, as he believed that a sequel could not keep the current roster of characters while adding new ones as well.
He also spoke about the challenge of trying to innovate on the successful formula of Smash Ultimate. “If we try to keep things fresh by shifting to a different genre or greatly changing the direction, then it’s no longer a Super Smash Bros. game,” he said. In addition, Sakurai mentioned that while the size of the previous game was a pivotal factor in its success on the Nintendo Switch, it also made fan expectations for a potential sequel very high. Sakurai admitted that this scope would be “a tough act to follow.”
Despite these remarks from Sakurai, he failed to rule out the possibility of returning to helm another project in the future. He revealed that if Nintendo approached him about making a sequel, he would “start thinking about it.” In the meantime, the creator of Super Smash Bros. said that he had been considering moving on from creating games. “I could potentially go down a different path,” he revealed. He explained that he wanted to maintain “an open mind” about his future, as there were many more ways he could stay involved in the industry.
This news from Sakurai comes as Nintendo recently released a balance patch for Smash Ultimate. As the final update for the fighting game, it saw 24 fighters receive changes. Just a few of the characters receiving balance tweaks were Link, Inkling, Mewtwo, and Ryu.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is available now for Nintendo Switch.
Source: IGN
