Nintendo will announce the next Smash Ultimate DLC fighter during The Game Awards 2020 tonight. Nintendo of America confirmed the upcoming announcement in a tweet this morning.
A new Super #SmashBrosUltimate fighter will be revealed tonight at #TheGameAwards! Tune in to the show, beginning at 4pm PT, to be ready for the reveal! pic.twitter.com/Lkw9fRrizl
— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) December 10, 2020
Joker, the first character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate’s first Fighters Pass, was announced during The Game Awards 2018. Because of this, many fans expected a similar announcement to come during last year’s Game Awards. However, the 2019 Awards did not include a new character reveal, leaving several fans disappointed. As a result, it seems that Nintendo wanted to inform fans in advance that they could look forward to an announcement this year.
Notably, this is only the second time Nintendo has announced an upcoming announcement of downloadable content for Smash Ultimate. Back in March, Nintendo revealed that a character from ARMS would join the game. Three months later, Masahiro Sakurai revealed that the character was Min Min. This time, Nintendo has not given any hints as to who will join Smash Ultimate’s roster during The Game Awards.
More about The Game Awards Smash Ultimate character reveal
Naturally, the coronavirus pandemic has slowed down the release schedule for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate’s DLC. However, the fact that Smash Ultimate’s next character will debut at The Game Awards suggests the development process has accelerated. The past three DLC characters were released in the same month they were announced. As a result, it is reasonable to believe that the character announced today will become playable by Christmas.
If this is true, it would mark a much quicker turnaround between DLC characters than previously seen this year. It has only been about two months since Minecraft’s Steve joined the battle. Conversely, there was a four-month gap between Min Min and Steve. Before that, fans had to wait five months between the releases of Byleth and Min Min.
Given the recent controversies surrounding Nintendo’s treatment of its esports communities, many Smash fans have tempered their expectations regarding tonight’s reveal. Conversely, “Jonesy” has begun to trend on Twitter, as other fans predict a representative from Fortnite to join the game.
twitter don’t get amnesia once nintendo does something you like challenge https://t.co/9t8sqlojpu
— Jut (@ProbablyJut) December 10, 2020
Ultimately, we’ll have to wait for tonight’s Game Awards to find out for sure who the next Smash Ultimate fighter is. The show will begin at 7 PM ET.
