Ninja Gaiden producer may have deconfirmed Ryu Hayabusa as Smash Ultimate DLC

It seems like Ryu Hayabusa may not be coming to Smash Ultimate as DLC after all. While some of producer Fumihiko Yasuda’s earlier comments seemed to imply he had a chance, a recent interview with Nintenderos may spell doom for Ryu’s DLC chances.

In a series of interviews, Yasuda suggested that the Team Ninja was waiting for their invitation and that Ryu could be duking it out with the likes of Link and Sephiroth. However, he is now telling Nintenderos that are no plans at this time.

“The truth is, there are no plans for his foray at this time, but if we were offered a place for him in the game, we would gladly consider it!” Yasuda said when asked about Ryu coming to Smash.

This response is significantly different than his other ones, so it seems like we may just have to wait for the next Smash game for Hayabusa to get a chance. Unless of course, Yasuda himself has no knowledge of the plans or is just being sneaky… kinda like a ninja.

Original story follows…

Team Ninja and Ninja Gaiden Master Collection Producer Fumihiko Yasuda may have dropped some significant hints at Ryu Hayabusa coming to Smash Ultimate in recent interviews.

The Koei Tecmo star has been rumored to be coming to Smash Ultimate for a long time, but so far, Hayabusa has been notably absent from the roster.

Now, with a trilogy of Ninja Gaiden remasters coming to the Nintendo Switch, it seems like the perfect time for Hayabusa to duke it out with some of gaming’s greats.

Speaking of fighters that Ryu could potentially face off against, Yasuda was asked just that in an interview with JPGames.

“I’d like to see a battle between Sephiroth and Ryu Hayabusa. And of course, Link too. We’re waiting for our invite,” he stated.

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The talk about waiting for an invite echoes what he had previously said in an interview with The Gamer when he mentioned how the team was awaiting their invitation. That said, the fact he’s familiar with Sephiroth being in Smash Ultimate is quite noteworthy.

Sephiroth’s addition to Smash Ultimate was a massive one that made waves across the gaming sphere, but the fact that a developer can pick out a DLC fighter who he wants Ryu Hayabusa to fight with is somewhat unique. It shows that Yasuda is up to date when it comes to Smash news.

In another interview, this time with Nintendo Wire, Yasuda even brought up Smash and Ryu’s possible addition.

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“Ryu has crossed over into plenty of other games, from Dead or Alive to Warriors All-Stars, even Nioh itself! Hypothetically, where would you like to see him go next?” Nintendo Wire asked.

“If he could appear in Super Smash Bros… I’d be ecstatic! I’m waiting for our invite,” Yasuda replied, once again reiterating the invitation element.

So, with all this said, it seems like Yasuda could be a bigger fan of Smash Ultimate than once thought. It’s certainly something to factor in when considering the final two DLC fighters remaining.

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Fighters Pass Volume 2 is set to conclude by December 2021 with the release of Challenger Pack 11. So far, the last two DLC characters have yet to be revealed, but fans believe we’ll find out who at least one of them is come E3.

Will Ryu Hayabusa end up being one of the final two? We’ll have to find out, but it’s clear that Fumihiko Yasuda wants this to be the case.