Y'all asked for it. Hopefully I don't disappoint.
So earlier today I was discussing Smash with a few friends in Discord, and the subject of the Minecraft x Smash conversation popped up. With recent articles coming about suggesting that Minecraft crossing over into Smash has been in the works for roughly 5 years, that kinda took over the conversation. This sounds crazy! 5 years for 1 character? That said I think there's a different way to look at this, as well as some other rumors around as well.
Thinking back to when banjo was first revealed, Craig Duncan (thanks
Dinoman96
) said the following:
Note how the speaker says, "Minecraft had paved the way". If it's
actually even
partially true that the plan with Steve was a number of years in the making, then is it possible that Steve was actually acquired
before Banjo? The first read we all had, contextually, was just "Minecraft on Switch". This, however, would beg the question as to why Steve wasn't in Volume 1, which I do not have an answer for. At least not yet.
Now, let's change our focus. Ryu Hayabusa has been rumored for quite some time with Smash. His existence in fake leaks has essentially become memetic, showing up in damn near every leak. The most interesting one was from IAmShifty, who first revealed that he had heard Ryu Hayabusa was "in" through a YouTube video. This has yet to come to pass. IAmShifty evidently has a record with correct leaks, including Ken, Incineroar, and Isabelle being the last 3 characters (I myself can vouch for this, as I had been given similar information from sources). Recently, Vergeben himself has claimed that Koei Tecmo has been in talks with Smash, but nothing specifically about Hayabusa himself. With Ryza recently disconfirmed by the developers of Atelier, it seems more likely than not that Hayabusa would be the pick (though there IS still DoA, though I kinda doubt it).
Even more recently, NateDrake Tweeted about Ryu Hayabusa as the "next" Smash pick. This one is shaky, as the person is question has stumbled a bit with information. This is also unknown as either a hint or just idle speculation.
Side note- remember when Bethesda said they'd "been in talks with Nintendo about Smash"? This may be important in a moment. Also, think about how Dragon Quest supposedly got pushed back from base roster (though I'm a bit more shaky on that one and haven't been able to confirm that).
So what does it all mean? Bear with me, because this probably isn't the STRONGEST case, but that's why it's a tinfoil hat Jonespost!
The latest reports, and some speculation, seem to suggest that there were additional plans alongside the original Fighter Pass framework. If Steve was a part of the Banjo deal, but not a part of Volume 1, then it suggests that, at one point, additional fighters
were planned outside of the Fighters Pass, potentially having us look at a Fighters Pass + individual packs scenario which has been floated around once in awhile. If rumors are legitimate, that would give us two individual packs of Steve Minecraft and Ryu Hayabusa. Furthermore, if Bethesda was approached by Nintendo in "some capacity" for Smash, that explains why we got Vault Boy in the last update.
But what about Min Min? Well, if you take a look at base game, while we got Spring Man and minimal ARMS content...we never got a stage or music. This raises the possibility that, while it was too late for base game, it
might have been saved for eventual DLC if they decided upon a Volume 2, which obviously we now have. This means that Byleth would have
never been planned as the "last" DLC character and that Nintendo had an inkling (heh) of continuing DLC past Volume 1 prior to the beginning of development. We have no timeline of events, so we don't
really know when Sakurai visited Atlus as opposed to meeting with Microsoft or playing Three Houses, or for that matter acquiring Steve or hypothetically Hayabusa.
Is this to say that ALL fighters were decided at this point? No, actually I don't even think that's my point. I would say my point is more that, potentially, half of this pass was held off, thus suggesting that Volume 2 was in the making earlier than we first thought. What it means for future picks, I can't say. But it explains the 5 year negotiations, the strange comment about Minecraft (a leak in front of our own eyes this whole time?) as well as the constant existence in rumor purgatory of Ryu Hayabusa for like 3 years.
One other thing to note as a reminder from
Shroob
: The 16 additional roster slots added in files post-launch also seem to suggest that DLC after Volume 1 was planned far in advance.
