Super Smash Bros. Creator Went to Extremes to Keep New Game From Leaking

These day it’s hard to keep a game in development secret mainly because of the potential of [...]

Super Smash Bros

These day it's hard to keep a game in development secret mainly because of the potential of stuff leaking out. For instance, what occurred with the infamous Walmart Canada leak that happened before E3.

But Super Smash Bros. director Masahiro Sakurai went to great lengths to avoid Ultimate for Nintendo Switch from being revealed before its official debut at the show.

While speaking with Ryokutya2089 (with translation by Siliconera), Sakurai explained that he went to super-great lengths to avoid word about Ultimate from slipping out. "To be honest, I'm really glad that it didn't leak," he said. "If it leaked that 'all character will be in it,' then it wouldn't have gotten the same reception."

He added, "I really wanted to avoid having the work of several years get smashed by someone who wanted his little moment to brag. It would've been over for us had the words 'all characters playable' made it out there."

Sakurai even made sure that it was protected internally. "It was a top secret project that many at Nintendo didn't even know about, and that's why you saw cheers even from those involved with Nintendo," he said. "Ice Climbers, Pokemon Trainer and Wolf received unusually loud cheering not because they're popular characters but because they weren't in the previous entry."

Overall, Sakurai was most pleased with the reception. "In any case, the reception for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate was amazing!" he said. "I think this is the first time I ever saw such a tremendous reception for just a game promo. The uproar was beyond encouraging."

As far as where Sakurai will go once Ultimate is wrapped up later this year, he hasn't said. But he did note, "I question what we'll do with the next title, and I feel that having 'all character playable' (for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate) may have been a Pandora's Box that could ruin possibilities for what's next in the series."

He then concluded. "However, honestly speaking, I'm not thinking about what's next!"

"I'm just working hard on the best possible way to offer maximum satisfaction right now. Truth be told, I'm not getting any younger and I don't think I'll be able to keep up with such dense workload forever, but the now is more important than later!"

Hey, we appreciate your efforts, Sakurai. And we'll show you how much when Super Smash Bros. Ultimate releases on December 7 for Nintendo Switch.

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