The update focuses on improving the stability and fairness of online gameplay, particularly with Global Smash Power (GSP), a ranking system used to measure a player’s performance in online matches.

Super Smash Bros Ultimate Version 13.0.3 Patch Notes:

• Online:
  • Fixed an issue with Global Smash Power (GSP): This update resolves a problem where Global Smash Power would not properly adjust when the connection was disrupted at a specific timing at the end of an online match. With this fix, GSP rankings should now return to their appropriate levels after such disruptions.

The release of this update was a surprise, as Nintendo hadn’t patched the game in a long time. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate was one of the best-selling games on the Nintendo Switch, with over 30 million copies sold, making it the third best-selling game on the Nintendo Switch, behind Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Animal Crossing New Horizons.

Since its release in 2018, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate has been one of the most popular fighting games, known for its vast character roster and highly competitive online multiplayer modes. The game has received numerous updates and patches to ensure online play quality, adding new characters and important fixes for issues. This patch is a step toward maintaining the integrity of the game’s ranking system in online play.

Let us know if you have noticed any other changes in the game after installing the update in the comments below.

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Speaking during his latest video on his YouTube channel, Smash Bros creator Masahiro Sakurai shared some advice for game developers as someone who knows the circumstances surrounding game production. He said that it would be ideal if everything could be perfectly adjusted and finished in time for a game’s release date, but that can only happen when the steps and final build are determined in advance, which, in his view, is almost impossible with modern titles.

Sakurai shared 4 personal thoughts on game updates/patches. Firstly, he said that today’s games are too complex. Current games, especially AAA titles, have extremely complex mechanisms and structures. He added that it is no exaggeration to say they are 100, 1000, or even 10,000 times more complicated than older games. According to him, the massive amount of data creates instability developers wouldn’t expect from pure ones and zeroes.

Secondly, he mentioned that, during production, developers can’t play much of the completed version of their game before it is released. If any adjustments are made, the process needs to be restarted from scratch in order to become a finished product. As such, he said that the time spent on a game without any adjustments, including bug and balance fixes, is very short.

Third, Sakurai said that the market’s testing power is incomparable. If a bug occurs for one in a thousand people, the chance of encountering it during debugging is very low. According to him, nowadays, that one person in a thousand can upload a video of the bug to the internet. No matter how many testers you get, once your game hits the market, it’ll be put through its paces to an incomparable degree. Even bugs that are easy to reproduce if known need constant rechecking as they are fixed, and there is no guarantee that all will be found during debugging. He added that the same applies to game balance.

Forth, he said that fatal bugs that cause a game to crash should be fixed, by all means. However, improvements for better enjoyment are purely services provided by the manufacturer. To operate this service, they probably keep core team members, including the director, on hand. For a AAA title, it is more effective to move on to the next project once it is sold. That said, he believes that the effort to make it better by spending developmental resources should not be criticized.

Lastly, Sakurai said that developers don’t take updates lightly. According to him, things may be different for games-as-a-service titles, but he’s personally grateful that people choose to invest time and money into improving released games. He mentioned that, from a player’s perspective, no matter how much you improve your games through patches, it won’t mean anything if the player base has already given up on the game. Therefore, the Smash Bros creator believes that developers should strive to make sure their game is in the best condition possible from the day of release.

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In his latest video on YouTube, Sakurai talked about the challenges involved in implementing button configuration settings. He said that the feature itself is important, but it’s always an ordeal having to implement it all over again for each new game.

As per Sakurai’s experience with Super Smash Bros Ultimate, asking every developer to create their own button re-mapping system leads to a lot more work during development. Thus, he said that it would be great if the console maker implements a system that lets players customize controls on a game-by-game basis, but that hasn’t happened yet. He added that the games he has worked on had to support lots of different controllers ever since the Wii was released, for which the development team had to make certain considerations.

The Super Smash Bros creator mentioned that the Nintendo Switch allows players to change button settings at a system level. However, that changes the button mapping for all applications, including how they work in every game. If, as a result, the player ends up with some unmapped buttons, they won’t be able to perform any of the corresponding actions required by an application.

Sakurai explained that, for game creators, making a button settings screen can be a major problem. However, he also recognized that it is a necessity for some players. He encouraged his fellow game creators to support the feature whenever possible.

We certainly hope that Nintendo is paying attention to Sakurai’s request, and will have a system in place for the Switch successor that allows players to customize controls on a game-by-game basis. It would eliminate the need for the hard work Sakurai and his development team would have to put in to come up with an in-game system to perform the same task.

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Speaking during his latest video on game creators, Super Smash Bros Ultimate director Masahiro Sakurai mentioned that, in addition to making content for his YouTube channel, he’s been working on games for the time being, suggesting that a new project of his is already in development.

The videos on Sakurai’s YouTube channel are likely recorded a few months in advance. Therefore, this particular video may have been from somewhere during May and September, 2023. Towards the end of the video, he mentioned that he is still actively involved in developing games. Given this information along with the recent job listing at Studio 2/Studio S for a 2D side-scrolling action game, it’s likely that that the development of the next entry in the Smash Bros series is currently in progress. This may be the reason behind Sakurai’s reduced YouTube video frequency from three videos per week to two since last summer.

Studio 2/Studio S is a new internal development team at Bandai Namco that is currently working on 2D and 3D action games commissioned by Nintendo, based on its job listing. The listing suggests that the 3D game is likely to be a remaster or a remake of an existing Nintendo title.

Not a whole lot is known about either game, though the job description in an earlier listing for this project mentioned HD remastering of deformed 3D backgrounds, porting of existing 3D background data, creation of deformed background assets Incorporation of data into in-house game engine, material adjustment using in-house game engine, creation of lighting in in-house game engines, and post-effects adjustment in in-house game engine. Meanwhile, the job description for the 2D game mentioned the construction of stage specifications, level designs etc. for side-view action games, suggesting that it may be the next Smash Bros title.

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Super Smash Bros. Ultimate development has concluded with the release of the last DLC fighter, Sora from the Kingdom Hearts series. After the release of the last DLC and the culmination of the second Fighter Pass for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Sakurai appears to be taking a long break. However, he might not be done yet with the series.

In a new column (via), excerpts of which have leaked earlier, Sakurai states his plans including what he thinks will happen with the Smash Bros. IP in the future. When asked if Sakurai will return for a new entry, the reply from Sakurai was: “I’m not even thinking of a sequel at all. This happens with every release. But I can’t say that this will be the last Smash ever.”

He also suggests that without his involvement, there won’t be a new game in the series. Sakurai has also tried to hire others to do this job, but apparently, this hasn’t worked out, or it was implied that it couldn’t work at all. While a new Smash could release without him but could lead to a disappointment among fans if it doesn’t end up working out. If Nintendo plans to continue the series, Sakurai wants to have a long discussion to make it a success.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is available now exclusively for the Nintendo Switch.

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The rumors surrounding Halo’s Master Chief being a part of the second Fighter Pass started to occur with the datamining of the game. One of the data miners posted about finding hints regarding the inclusion of Master Chief in Super Smash Bros Ultimate. This started to spread widely even leading one of the ‘insiders’, Vergben, to post about it.

The rumors didn’t pan out as we saw in the recent Nintendo Direct. Sakurai confirmed that the next DLC fighter that will join the Super Smash Bros Ultimate roster is Kazuya from the Tekken series.

After the Nintendo Direct, 343 Industries community director, Brian Jarrard, confirmed in a tweet that there is no validity to this rumor of Master Chief or any Halo collaboration between Microsoft and Nintendo.

“As a longtime fan of both games, it would be amazing to have a Chief/Smash announce today. Nothing is happening that I’m aware of, but maybe momentum this week can open a door, ” said Brian Jarrard.

The community director also mentioned a potential for this collaboration in the future by tagging both Phil Spencer and Doug Bowser of Nintendo.

In the past, there was a similar collaboration between Microsoft and Nintendo when Banjo and Kazooie made their way to the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate fighter roster in the form of a DLC. While the current rumor has been debunked, this doesn’t mean it is not possible to happen in the future. The last DLC fighter is still left for Super Smash Bros Ultimate so we have to wait and see if this rumor pans out or not.

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According to Nintendo, this Direct will be focused on Super Smash Bros. Ultimate in addition to the games that are slated to launch in the first half of 2021. This means that all of the games that are releasing until the end of June 2021. This could include any of the announced games as well as any unannounced ones.

There has been a lot of speculation of a potential Direct. We had suspected that one might be due back in January but that didn’t exactly pan out and instead, there were individual announcements related to future Nintendo games like Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury and Pokémon Snap.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is also offering a Fighter Pass 2 that just had its latest DLC fighter as Sephiroth. If there is news expected for Smash Bros. Ultimate, it could be for a new DLC fighter and these types of presentations are usually quite long so it could make up a big chunk of the Direct.

The latest news suggests that this upcoming Direct will be 50 minutes long, which is a lot of time. This is actually the first major Direct from Nintendo since September 2019 so it is quite significant on its own. There have been rumors suggesting that Nintendo is working on a Zelda Collection to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the series, so it could be announced at this Direct if the rumor turns out to be true.

So if you are looking forward to upcoming Nintendo Switch games, tune in to the social media channels of Nintendo on February 17 at 2 PM PT to learn more about the games or unannounced projects that the developer has yet to reveal for the Switch.

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While the Sephiroth DLC support was already implemented with an update that released on December 17, the patch today will bring in support for the Mii Fighter costumes including Geno, Aerith, Barret, and others which were shown during a gameplay presentation hosted by Sakurai.

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There are likely going to be balance adjustments for fighters that will be a part of this update but the official English patch notes are not live as of yet. They will be posted on the support website.

Super Smash Bros Ultimate Update 10.1.0 Patch Notes

• Support for Mii Fighter costumes
• Game balance adjustments, stability fixes, and other minor adjustments have been made.

You can find out the details on the game balance adjustments from the Japanese website for now. We will update with the English changes once the official website posts them.

Here are the patch notes for the December 17 update that added Sephiroth DLC and a new gameplay mode for those who wanted early access to this DLC.

• General
  • The Sephiroth Challenge mode event has been added for a limited time.
  • You can attempt this mode if you’ve purchased the Sephiroth Challenger Pack or the Fighters Pass Vol. 2. Defeating Sephiroth will unlock him as a playable fighter and grant access to his stage.
  • This mode will appear on the upper left of the main menu. Press the + Button to take on the challenge.
  • Once the event period is over, the mode will become unavailable, but Sephiroth and his stage will be unlocked immediately for anyone who has purchased the Sephiroth Challenger Pack or the Fighters Pass Vol. 2.
  • Several issues have been fixed to improve gameplay experience.

Note that you cannot make videos of replays that contain DLC you have not purchased (fighters, stages, music, Mii Fighter costumes, etc.).

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Steve and Alex are the latest addition to the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate fighter roster. They are the second DLC fighter for the game and were released last week.

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After the release of Steve in Minecraft, there was a hilarious reaction from some of the social media users because of his victory animation. It showed Steve holding a piece of meat or some object that looked obscene at first glance. This has been patched out in a new update released today.

Of course, patching Steve’s meat is not the only thing that has been patched out, there are other changes as well that are mentioned in the Super Smash Bros Ultimate 9.0.1 update patch notes.

Super Smash Bros Ultimate Update 9.0.1 Patch Notes

General

• Fixed the issue where sometimes an opposing fighter would go through the landscape when Steve/Alex created a block at a certain location and the opposing fighter destroyed the block.
• Fixed the issue where sometimes an opposing fighter would go through the landscape when Steve/Alex created a block at a certain location and the anvil created with a down air attack struck the opposing fighter.
• Fixed the issue where the opposing fighter would become uncontrollable when Steve/Alex hit them with a minecart in certain situations.
• Fixed the issue where if Steve/Alex’s minecart bounced off the wall, it would not hit the opposing fighter.
• Fixed the issue where opposing fighters carried in Steve/Alex’s minecart would sometimes be warped to the original location where they were picked up.
• Fixed the issue where certain fighters could go through Steve/Alex’s block once KO’d.

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Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is available now for Nintendo Switch.

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Super Smash Bros Ultimate is getting a second fighter pass that will add six new characters to the game’s roster. One of these is confirmed to be Steve while the other is Min Min. Both of these are available in the game now if you have purchased Fighter Pass 2.

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Steve is from Minecraft and comes with the alternative skin Alex. There are other additions to the spirit shop taken from Minecraft like Enderman, Zombie, and Slime. You can have a look at the complete Super Smash Bros Ultimate 9.0.0 update patch notes below.

Super Smash Bros Ultimate Update 9.0.0 Patch Notes

• Offline
  • The following spirits will appear in the Shop on the Vault menu:
    • Zombie
    • Creeper
    • Skeleton
    • Slime (Minecraft)
    • Enderman
    • Villager & Iron Golem
    • Ghast
    • Piglin
    • Ender Dragon
• Online
  • The controls during combat in battle arenas while spectators are present have been adjusted.
  • Adjustments have been made to the way Global Smash Power is calculated.
• General
  • The following downloadable content will be usable after purchase:
    • Steve & Alex Challenger Pack
    • Creeper Mask + Outfit
    • Pig Mask + Outfit
    • Diamond Helmet + Armor
    • Travis Wig + Outfit
    • Bomberman Mask + Outfit
    • Gil’s Helmet + Armor
  • You cannot make videos of replays that contain DLC you have not purchased (fighters, stages, music, Mii Fighter costumes, etc.).
  • An issue where the movement delay after a perfect shield was behaving incorrectly under certain rules has been fixed.
  • Game balance adjustments, stability fixes, and other minor adjustments have been made. Please see the details of fixes and changes to fighters.
  • Several issues have been fixed to improve gameplay experience.

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The game is available now for the Nintendo Switch.

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