IDK. It seems like they would want to deny it or not say anything for the sake of not disclosing any potential deal they made for the Fighters Pass. The interview in question made it sound like talks were still ongoing and nothing was finalized yet. So yeah, i'm having a lot of trouble buying in to Dragonborn personally.
I don't believe in Dragonborn at all, but I think it's important to note that if a company is under NDA, it's a fair assumption to make that if they're pressed for an answer, especially in a live setting, they don't have to say "no comment", especially when that can easily be construed as an admission. To offer a real world example, a certain contentious political figure has made the statement that "pleading the fifth" is a sure sign of guilt - while this isn't necessarily the truth, it isn't entirely a lie. An answer that isn't "yes" or "no" leaves a lot to be assumed, true or not.
It's been shot around before, but I think that any comprehensive NDA likely prohibits parties from saying "no" as well as "yes" to the very specific question of a character being in Smash. "No" is just as potentially damaging to the reputation of the game as "yes" is to the surprise, hence why I have previously asserted that Grant Kirkhope never outright said "no", but instead used phrases akin to "don't get your hopes up".
To take it back to Bethesda, I believe that the primary reason behind people's assumptions that they have a character in Smash is due to them stating "oh yeah" in an interview when asked if they had spoken to Nintendo about Smash Bros... which is an incredibly safe response when you factor in the things I've just listed. They aren't denying or confirming a character in the game, and also aren't raising suspicions by "pleading the fifth". It's probably safe to say that most any company, big name or not, has talked to Nintendo about Smash. WayForward and Yacht Club could have said the exact same thing, if asked, and likely would have been within the bounds of an NDA. I think the absolute limits of just how cheeky you can be with it were pushed by Toby Fox.
Mostly to co-exist with the FF7 remake coming this year.
You mean the game Sephiroth is from?