Sakurai reveals plans for Smash Ultimate after Sora is released as final DLC fighter
NintendoSmash Ultimate series creator and director Masahiro Sakurai shared new details on the process of developing DLC fighters, and what’s next for the game once Sora is released.
On October 18, Kingdom Hearts’ protagonist Sora will finally be released as the final Smash Ultimate DLC fighter. While this may be the end of Fighters Pass Volume 2 and new characters joining the roster, it won’t be the end of the game just yet.
In his latest Famitsu column, Sakurai delved into his role in creating all eleven of the post-launch DLC fighters and what he plans on doing as development finally wraps up.
Thanks to PushDustIn for providing translations.
…start off with Sakurai coming up with the proposal. Then there are two production lines, the upstream and downstream. The upstream in order consists of making the model -> move specifications -> animations -> effects -> sound effects -> and work relating to movies. 4/? pic.twitter.com/KE2Kq41fIN
— Will (PushDustIn) (@PushDustIn) October 14, 2021
Sakurai was working over 3 Smash fighters in one day
According to Sakurai, he was involved in the entire process, from a fighter’s original proposal to their moveset and other key development elements.
“There are two production lines, the upstream and downstream,” he explained. “The upstream in order consists of making the model, move specifications, animations, effects, sound effects, and work relating to movies.”
Once that process is completed, the downstream process begins and consists of artwork, stage, music tracks, balancing, and things of that nature.
For example work on the model should be completed before starting the artwork.
So when the DLC was being made, it was done in tandem. Sakurai was involved with every step of the process, so at some parts, he was working on 3+ fighters in one day. 6/? pic.twitter.com/SERmhfr3h1— Will (PushDustIn) (@PushDustIn) October 14, 2021
“So when the DLC was being made, it was done in tandem. Sakurai was involved with every step of the process, so at some parts, he was working on 3+ fighters in one day,” PushDustIn translated.
What’s next for Smash after Sora is released?
Despite Sora being the final fighter, there is still some more work that needs to be concluded before Ultimate is complete.
“Over the last few months, work has begun to wrap up one by one. The models, artwork, stage, music, animations, sound effects, and trailers are done. All that is left is PR, managing event(s)*, and some balancing,” the Smash boss stated. “The staff is slowly leaving the project, but there is still some work left to do.”
But there is still some work left to do! So Sakurai will continue to do his best. But Sakurai suddenly has more free time, which he is happy about. When work is completed, he is thinking about driving around Japan…but the COVID situation might put a wrench in his plans. 8/? pic.twitter.com/FwvoXQV2uZ
— Will (PushDustIn) (@PushDustIn) October 14, 2021
Players will hope the balancing can continue long after Sora’s release as Smash Ultimate’s pro scene continues to grow and evolve. Given how powerful a character like Bayonetta was in Smash 4, making adjustments even with the DLC completed would be ideal.
Sadly, Sakurai didn’t touch on what events are still to come or to what extent the balancing will be. In any case, he plans to drive around Japan once work on the game is finally finished and he still has two more columns planned until then.