I'm reposting this yet again because, ladies, gentlemen, and our non-binary friends, I potentially got a major bombshell this morning. So, I woke up late this morning. Slept through my alarm, one of my cats, Artemis, is hardcore nuzzling my face, and I have like 15 minutes to get ready for work. ****... Don't have time for breakfast or a shower... Double ****... Quickly check my Discord messages. Lo and behold, one of my contacts sent me a message while I was asleep. "Hey man, I saw your Smashboards post about those characters being tested and it's technically wrong." Triple ****... The day is already going swimmingly.
Get to work and read the full message. The gist is that one of my contacts said I misinterpreted what one of my other contacts had told me. Thankfully, they went into full detail. They said, yes, multiple characters were currently in "testing" but not in the traditional sense. They then began to explain that Smash characters are typically "ready" about two months before they are released. This means that the major testing is completed and the game won't burst into flames if you try to use them. They then explained that the last two months are testing but it's more in the sense of "polish" than hardcore debugging. Basically the tech equivalent of running a lint roller over their clothes, shining their shoes, and ironing their shirt. If we look at the Smash timeline, this makes total sense and, once again, ForsakenM's stellar timeline theory is supported.
-Plant was infamously shown in the November Direct in 2018 but wasn't ready until February 2019.
-Joker was technically "ready" in February but had the two months of polish before their April release.
-Hero was announced in early June, released practically in August.
-Banjo and Hero's presentations were done around the same time, suggesting that Banjo was still being "polished" when Hero was released.
-Terry was shown in a physical form in September and was released in November.
What does this tell us? It means that 5 was likely "done" in November but needed the standard two months of polish before release, suggesting a January or very early February release. Now, let's circle back...
As my post from yesterday shows, one of my contacts shared with me that two characters recently began "testing." This is technically incorrect according to yet another contact. Like I've mapped out, the true testing/debugging likely has already happened... Meaning both of these characters are in the "polish" stage! Not only does this suggest that 5 and 6 are ready to present... But so is 7! Now, does this mean we'll be getting at least a triple reveal? Potentially but we'll see how things play out. Like I said yesterday, one of my contacts said they knew the identity of 6 and that they'd probably be out February/March, going back to my New Year's Eve theory that 7 could be released as early as April. Again, I wanted to be totally transparent about this but keep in mind that these guys could be potentially wrong so try not to go too nuts.