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Sakurai talks Smash Bros. development - Thoughts on characters, DLC, development struggles, and much more

The Sakurai motherload
by rawmeatcowboy
25 May 2019
GN Version 5.0

Not that long ago, a collection of Famitsu columns from Masahiro Sakurai was released. Fans have since picked the book up and pored over its contents. Below you can find a summary of the more interesting details.

- Sakurai doesn't think characters like Goku, Shrek, and others don't make sense for Smash Bros.
- Smash Bros. is not a series where he thinks about continuation, so characters aren't held back, and DLC doesn't impact the next game
- Sakurai sees Smash as a party game and would like things to be more casual
- Sakurai also recognizes that he's not the only one who can interpret what the series can/cannot be
- back in the Wii U/3DS days, there were restrictions on how many updates to a game you could do
- updates are normal these days, but they're a bit of a voluntary service
- Sakurai thinks its important to hear feedback from a large variety of players, including newcomers
- no plans for a Smash Ballot again
- Sakurai was making plans for Smash Ultimate while on vacation
- Sakurai treats a characters personality as a game in and of itself
- characters joining Smash has an advertising effect, even if the characters appear in games that aren't on Nintendo platforms
- Sakurai played a beta of Breath of the Wild in 2 days to get a feel for its inclusion in Smash Bros. Ultimate
- Sakurai feels games shouldn't be created based on market research alone
- Sakurai feels games made to imitate other games is unfortunately
- 60 billion yen is enough to make every Smash game up to Ultimate
- Sakurai would like a Smash Bros. area in Super Nintendo World
- Smash Ultimate's DLC was planned without the developer's input
- DLC development takes time, and DLC business is far more risky than most think
- gathering staff to create new DLC is tough
- Sakurai isn't fond of season pass DLC
- Omega battlefield variants take more time than people think
- HAL is credited, but not involved in development anymore
- the team was very careful to avoid leaks during E3 2018
- the story idea of World of Light has existed since Brawl
- the idea of Spirits was a last resort, and Sakurai isn't sure this idea will return
- there was a plan to include a Spirits-like map in Melee
- Sakurai doesn't follow internet reactions and doesn't know of fan predictions
- Sakurai took a long vacation, but can't travel far as he has a cat
- by March 2019, the online win ratio is very close for all characters

[Link]