Sephiroth is making his way to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as a DLC fighter, which raises the question of why Square Enix allowed him to appear in the game? One possible reason is that Final Fantasy 7 Remake could be coming to the Nintendo Switch in the future.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate put a lot more focus on villains than previous entries in the series. This is why the game included characters like Ridley, King K. Rool, Dark Samus, and Piranha Plant. The fans speculated that Sephiroth could make it into the game, but the appearance of Hero seemed to shoot that theory down, as no one expected Square Enix to allow Nintendo to use so many of its precious first-party characters. Sephiroth was announced for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate during the 2020 Game Awards, and some fans are suspicious about his presence in the game.
Square Enix Is Stingy (Unless It Has Something To Gain)
There are some developers/publishers who opened the floodgates for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, in regards to content outside of their character. Capcom allowed numerous tracks from the Street Fighter series to appear in the game, as did Konami with Castlevania. SNK allowed over fifty music tracks from across its titles to appear in the game, along with numerous background cameos in Terry's stage.
Square Enix, by comparison, has been extremely stingy with Final Fantasy 7 content in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. There are only two music tracks from the game present and only two Spirits, both of which are Cloud. Even the Chocobo Mii Fighter costume from Super Smash Bros. 3DS/Wii U didn't make it into the game.
Square Enix can be open with its content when it has something to gain. The company wants to break the Dragon Quest franchise outside of Japan, which is the main reason why Hero appeared in the game. Square Enix also wanted to promote the upcoming Dragon Quest 11 S: Echoes of an Elusive Age, which is why it allowed four Dragon Quest heroes to appear in the game, along with eight musical tracks and a number of Spirits. The appearance of Hero in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate brought a lot of international publicity to the Dragon Quest series, and it might have encouraged Square Enix to let more of its precious first-party characters out of the box.
Final Fantasy 7 Remake's Timed Exclusivity Ends Soon
Final Fantasy 7 Remake was one of the biggest games of 2020 and it's set to be part of its own spin-off series that will run for years to come. As such, it makes sense that Square Enix would want the game to appear on as many platforms as possible. Final Fantasy 7 Remake's timed PlayStation exclusivity ends on April 10, after which point, it will be free to appear on other systems.
It's almost certain that Final Fantasy 7 Remake will appear on PC, Xbox, and Xbox Series S/X, but a Nintendo Switch port is also possible. The Switch is selling incredibly well around the world, so it makes sense that Square Enix would make the effort to port the game. The only question is one of hardware capability. The Switch has run PS4 games in a diminished state in the past, but Final Fantasy 7 Remake is one of the most technically demanding titles of its generation, and the Switch might not even be able to run it.
Final Fantasy 7 Remake Could Be A Cloud Game/Appear On The Switch Pro
There are a couple of ways Final Fantasy 7 Remake could run on the Switch. The first is as a cloud game. Control: Ultimate Edition works on Nintendo Switch as a streaming game, and it even has functioning ray-tracing for its visuals. It's possible that Final Fantasy 7 Remake could come to the Switch as a cloud game, allowing it to bypass the limitations of the hardware. The other possible option is the rumored new Switch model that is meant to be released in 2021. It's possible that this system is strong enough to play Final Fantasy 7 Remake. The game would almost certainly have to be digital-only, due to how big the file size is.
The original Final Fantasy 7 was the game that resulted in Nintendo and Square Enix (then known as Squaresoft) falling out in the '90s. The issues between the two companies have long since been buried, and the time might come for a new Final Fantasy 7 game to appear on a Nintendo console.
Sephiroth will be added to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate in December.