In the latest weekly Famitsu column Masahiro Sakurai, the prolific director of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, confirmed that his work on the best seller is complete at the end of Fighter Pass Volume 2. This pass will contain six fighters, each with their own music and stage, as opposed to the five included in the first pass.
Sakurai also reiterated that the characters to be added have already been decided based on Nintendo’s request, rather than his own; a position he’d made clear back in 2018. Later in the column, Sakurai stated that he’s never been working for his passion, instead, working for the happiness of others. He also confirmed that the next Super Smash Bros. title will not release until a new set of Nintendo hardware is available.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate released in December 2018, selling over 12 million units in its opening weeks. Since then, Pirhana Plant and the five additional fighters from Fighters Pass Volume 1 have been released over the past year.
Volume 2 promises players six new fighters with music and stages for each, to be released by December 31st, 2021. Fans have speculated that Nintendo and Sakurai alike will be winding down the development of the critically acclaimed title after three years of support.