Sorry, Crash Bandicoot Fans — He's Not Coming to 'Smash Ultimate' Yet
Published Dec. 10 2020, 8:36 p.m. ET
The next fighter was set to be announced for Super Smash Bros. during the Dec. 10 Game Awards, but ahead of the reveal, the frontrunner was Crash Bandicoot. So, is Crash really coming to Smash Ultimate? Sadly, not this time around.
Who is the next 'Smash Ultimate' fighter?
The next fighter coming to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate was revealed on Dec. 10, at The Game Awards. Nintendo teased the reveal of the upcoming downloadable character on Twitter and told fans to tune in to the award show to be in the know. Fans of Crash Bandicoot had believed that the character was surely heading to the game, but it looks like it's not his turn.
Nintendo has revealed that the next Smash Ultimate fighter will be Sephiroth. The Final Fantasy antagonist made his debut in a Nintendo video in which he declares, "I have been waiting for this moment. Now, I shall give Smash despair." He then reigns terror on the gathered Nintendo characters, before engaging in battle with Mario, and then fellow Final Fantasy character Cloud Strife.
So, is Crash Bandicoot ever coming to 'Smash Ultimate'?
On the day of The Game Awards, fans managed to get Crash trending online, with their hopes that he would be entering the game. But that hope also rested on the fact that some leaks had suggested that the character was indeed on his way to becoming a new fighter.
The Licensing Source Book, a European publication that covers the licensing industry, had printed a passage back in 2018 that contained some remarks about Crash making a comeback. "Looking ahead to 2018 Max picks out Crash Bandicoot as one to watch: 'The new game has had a huge success at retail with no marketing spend. Next it will be going broader (Switch and PC), and there will be another game in 2019. Activision have a five year plan for this and GB eye is delighted to be fully on board for all products.'"
Twitter user TheNintendata, who, as their name suggests, publishes Nintendo rumors and news, explained the passage in greater detail in 2020. "This comes from a document that was leaked from Activision … in this we can find that they have planned that Crash arrives at Smash the following year,” they wrote.
"The aforementioned document was leaked and some industry experts have come out to say that it is real, with this in mind, yes, there is a good chance that Crash is part of Fighter Pass 2," they concluded.
According to Polygon, this new Super Smash Bros. Ultimate DLC fighter, now known to be Sephiroth, comes after Min Min from Arms was added in June, followed by Steve, Alex, Enderman, and Zombie from Minecraft, who were put into the game in October.
"Super Smash Bros. Ultimate’s next fighter will be the third included as part of Fighters Pass Vol. 2. All six characters in that pass — plus new stages and music — will be released for Ultimate by Dec. 31, 2021," according to Polygon. With three characters left, it's possible that Crash will be one of the ones to be revealed in 2021.
