Super Smash Bros. Ultimate’s next Fighter’s Pass character is really going to be the last one, according to series creator Masahiro Sakurai.
As reported by Nintendo Life, the reconfirmation comes as part of Sakurai’s weekly Famitsu column, where he discussed some of the development process behind Tekken’s Kazuya, who was just recently released for Smash Bros. Ultimate.
Kody Nokolo translated the column and said that, towards the end of the column, “Sakurai mentions again that there’s only one character left. This is the end: Super Smash Bros. Ultimate will be complete”.
Although it has been said a fair few times by Sakurai that the next Fighter’s Pass character is going to be the last, many fans were hoping that it was a bait and switch and that Sakurai would announce a third Fighter’s Pass following the next character reveal.
The main reason that fans think this, beyond just wanting more characters, is that a second Fighter’s Pass wasn’t expected for Smash Ultimate. That announcement caught fans by surprise, which has sparked hope for another similar surprise announcement. Now it seems that Sakurai is really going out his way to set expectations for the upcoming announcement and that it’ll finally finish Smash Ultimate’s long post-release DLC that started back in 2018.
This reconfirmation has sparked an even greater amount of speculation on who the final character might be for Smash Ultimate. Many fans are calling for a Nintendo character like Waluigi to finish the roster off, whilst some fans are holding out hope for long-requested characters like Sora and Crash Bandicoot. Whoever the next character ends up being, at least it’s now fully confirmed that this is the last Smash character for the foreseeable future.
The rest of the Famitsu column talks about the development process behind Kazuya, who is the most recent addition to Smash Bros. Ultimate. Sakurai specifically mentioned how he wanted Kazuya's normal moves to be faithful to Tekken, and how, although it may seem like the 2D fighter characters are similar, they all have specific things that differentiate them.