Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo Switch Targeted for Christmas 2018
Informer reveals reasons behind lack of information coming from official sources.
Since Nintendo Switch was announced, the internet has been awash with assumptions that a port of Super Smash Bros. for Wii U would eventually make its way onto the console.
An individual familiar with the matter has explained why the game hasn’t yet been announced for Switch while adding some clarity to the rumours.
Development for a Switch version of “Smash 4” (as it’s known to fans) was considered back in 2015 following the successful launch of the Nintendo 3DS and Wii U versions. The original plan was to port the Wii U version over to Nintendo Switch.
However, the game’s director — Masahiro Sakurai — wanted an ‘enhanced’ version of the game for Switch. Aside from slightly prettier graphics and a more robust online experience, the idea was for the game to switch from Wii U version-style visuals to Nintendo 3DS version-style visuals once the console was removed from the dock. This way the game wouldn’t suffer from a massive drop in visual quality or performance.
Development of this system is where it gets a little tricky. Bandai Namco — who assisted in development of the Wii U and Nintendo 3DS versions — were unavailable to lend development resources to the project. According to the informer, the average developer within Nintendo has been at 120% capacity (meaning that the average software developer within Nintendo has 48 hours worth of work within a 40 hour work week) since the end of 2015 when Switch software development kicked into overdrive. This left development studio Sora Ltd. to pick up the workload itself which allowed Sakurai even closer oversight. The team considered taking a lot of elements from “Smash 4” and rolling them instead into “Super Smash Bros. 5” for Nintendo Switch.
To the outside observer, this would be a similar approach to the development of Splatoon 2. Further benefits would be the game needn’t been released until the Christmas period of 2018 since it could sell as a major release and not a “filler” in between large releases like Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.
Finally, the informer notes that while the idea of releasing the game “Holiday 2018” (October 2018) is the case, the scope of the Smash project has been changing and it could end up taking even longer. For this reason, Nintendo hasn’t officially announced the game just yet.
