The Possibility of DLC in Smash 4

[many37]

With all the commotion in the Smash community over the reveal of the final roster, I decided to discuss the possibilities of adding more characters to Smash 4's roster through DLC.

Now according to this article posted by IGN during an interview with Sakurai at E3 2013, Sakurai stated that he had no plans for DLC at the moment of the interview. This may mean that DLC may not be an option in Smash for Wii U and 3DS but as we have seen in the past, Sakurai's opinions tend to change with time. For example, according to this article by Kotaku, Sakurai was going to place Miis as playable characters for Brawl but he decided against the idea in the end. Now that Mii Fighters are available in Smash 4, this means that Sakurai's opinions over certain ideas have a chance to change in the future.

Now my question is the following: If Sakurai and/or Nintendo decided to provide DLC for Smash Bros. for 3DS and Wii U, what characters are the most likely to be in this DLC?

My pic would be Mewtwo, since Sakurai has stated that he wished to use Mewtwo's Mega Evolution in Smash (could not find the article to back this statement up).

 

[ミスティック Speed]

Its not going to happen.
We're never going to get any of the top 3, ever. Please, just stop this train of false hope....its seriously overdone at this point in time.

 

[ScubaGoomba]

I think DLC is very likely, but there are some important things to consider when guessing who is made: Anticipated demand and Development costs.

Characters with minor demand will likely only get in if they have low production costs. Nintendo won't sink considerable funds into developing a character unless they anticipate a profit. Likewise, characters with low demand but also low production costs are possible as long as the demand isn't SO low.

Mewtwo seems like a good example of "high demand/low cost." He shares enough assets with Lucario that they wouldn't be working from the ground up and he's popular enough to see a profit.

Ridley seems like a high demand/high cost kind of character. He's been left out of previous games due to the considerable work it would take to include him in the game, which means he would take a considerable amount of development time both in developing him and in developing future DLC characters around him. However, they may weigh the demand as sufficient to sink the money into him. What may be more likely is that he comes in as a clone/semi-clone of Charizard. Clone characters have a much lower development cost.

This, of course, should all be looked at as a continuum. The level of demand for a given character varies from character to character. Likewise, those with more complicated conceits are going to be costlier than others. Mario was probably a cheaper character to develop than Robin, for example.

Then there are external factors. Take Mewtwo, again. Nintendo could veto its inclusion entirely due to the emergence of Pokkén Fighters; Pokémon now has its own, separate fighting game that could be a way to channel characters that could fit well into Smash but, for whatever reason aren't there, into a new game. Mewtwo could easily be an advertising ploy they're hoping to use in Pokkén Fighters, opting to keep it out of Smash so it can be a big reveal there.

The biggest thing to remember when trying to predict DLC (and these games in general) is that Nintendo, first and foremost, is a business. As a business, it's trying to dig itself out of a deep hole, which means a period of smart investments that will profit the company.

 

[Ffamran]

DLC is probably likely to keep the game fresh, but what the DLC has is up in the air. Or down in a pit.

 

[Kokiris]

3DS Only Free DLC : 4 Character for the launch of the Wii U version, would be the best.

 

[Tino]

Apparently, DLC is still a possibility but we'll just have to see if they'll be some anytime soon after the game comes out.

 

[Mario & Sonic Guy]

If DLC ever does get planned, it's probably going to follow the same route as Mario Kart 8's DLC; you can pre-order the DLC, but you can't use it until a specified date has been reached.

 

[Plain Yogurt]

Thinking about the kind of guy Sakurai is, I can see him using DLC to implement planned characters like Ice Climbers and not much else. He likes his games nice and full. On the other hand, announcing brand new DLC characters would be a great hype reboot for when the Wii U version info starts coming in. I'm sure we'll know soon.

 

[Sobreviviente]

Lucas, Wolf, Ice Climbers, maybe mewtwo? definetely, but dont expect more, especially not snake or ridley.