Official Newcomer/DLC Speculation Discussion

[Mamboo07]

I'm still hoping for Poochy and Bandana Dee to get into Smash Ultimate.
If they don't make it in, i will be sad and a bit upset.

 

[SKX31]

Oh, I don't think original normals are a problem at all, especially if the character brings something interesting with specials.

Ahri and Lux imo would fit better than Ryze because the unique properties of their projectiles and passives seem easier to translate into Smash. I don't know who else has enough "credit in-universe" to get a spot - most of the other "faces of League" seem either too basic (like Garen or Darius) or way too complex to implement (Ekko, Teemo, etc), at least in my opinion. Mage champions would hit a good balance in general, methinks.

I suppose Ezreal, Riven and Yasuo would be good choices for non-mage characters, but I dunno...

Yea, Ryze would be wonky, but I think he's workable if he's given the time to rebalance. But I do lean towards Ahri as well, and Lux seems simple enough to work. Ahri would also fit LoL's balance of "Very quick movements and poking fights, as well as threading the needle. Champions are pidgeonholed into roles, sure, but you know what they're gonna do as a basic idea." There's some bonus points though for Ahri and Ryze - Faker has used them extensively AFAIK. His impact does give Ahri some additional weight.

Yea, I do agree with your other point, and it's not just LoL which has that "some characters are too basic, others are way to complex" problem. Dota 2 also has that problem with a lot of its poster children, perhaps even to a worse degree (at least a couple are workable, like LoL's case). What with Dota's balance being completely different from LoL's (much more all-in on a character's abilities, but also providing some unusual utility and flexibility, allowing most heroes to played as whatever depending on patch.). I'd presume that SMITE - which is on the Switch already funnily enough - also has that problem.

*Twitches when you mention Teemo.*

The thing is Sakurai wouldn't choose Halo over Doom because the first one is more recognizable. I honestly don't think Sakurai cares about that, I mean, of course he knows that and could be a point for Halo, which is a more mainstream franchise than Doom. Besides that Halo would be a really big deal because is the main franchise of Microsoft and Xbox, like Mario for Nintendo.

But I don't know, for Microsoft is one thing to give Banjo, a character they haven't used in years and always remembered and associated with Nintendo,and other thing is Master Chief. It could happen but I wouldn't bet for him, maybe it's just me.

I think Doomguy has a lot of chances in comparison to Master Chief, and I'm not biased or anything, I've barely played Doom in comparison to Halo. Halo 3 and Reach are some of my favourite games from the previous generation.

I think we should remember that Microsoft's currently positioning itself in case Project Scarlett falters. I strongly doubt it will personally, but it could (I mean, the Wii U's fall happened just after the Wii's riproaring success). So Microsoft collabing with Nintendo makes sense - sure the Switch Rare Replay didn't happen (or hasn't happened yet - which is a major miss IMO), but Halo's never been portable. I could def. see Microsoft choosing to port Halo games on the Switch once the Steam MCC is done, partly as prep, partly to fill a niche Microsoft hasn't even entered.

And I'm of the belief that Microsoft would have had continued with Banjo games had they had a dev team able and willing to take it on. Nuts and Bolts put an end to that, sadly.

 

[dezeray112]

So like what other franchises would you guys want in

- Tekken
- Tales of
- Ninja Gaiden or Dead or Alive
- Guilty Gear

 

[Calamitas]

At the risk of sounding bias.

As far as first party characters go I do think Elma's got a decent shot. Xenoblade X has no stage or music in Ultimate. Which is pretty strange to think about considering how little new content Xenoblade has gotten in general in Ultimate. I know the stuff for XC2 was added last minute mainly because of how popular that game was, despite being released after the project plan was finished. We do know that all the fighters for the first pass were decided relatively early on and Xenoblade is a series Nintendo wants to gain more attention.

That said, I could be just hopeful at the idea since I just don't want X to be the forgotten cousin because I think its a very underrated game.

Not to mention that out of all the Xenoblade Spirits that make an appearance in World of Light, not a single one is from X. There has definitely been something going on regarding that game behind the scenes.

 

[YoshiandToad]

So like what other franchises would you guys want in

Spoiler

no more sora he's a video game character shut up

- Resident Evil
- Team Fortress 2
- Spyro
- Tomb Raider
- Crash Bandicoot
- Captain Toad
- Chibi-Robo
- More actual Paper Mario stages

 

[M@R!3]

I think if a Resident Evil fighter should be added (although I don't think there is still space for one more capcom fighter) than Chris Redfield. He is grounded not special. Exactly what Smash Bros needs.
Leon is after RE2classic a lame one-liner Gerry Stue. He knows everything. He can handle everything. He is the one who does the last hit. Especially if Chris is in the same plot.
Jill is a dead character in that franchise.

Chris and Jill are both pretty special actually if you look at their backgrounds. Both were in the military prior to joining S.T.A.R.S. Chris was in the Air Force, while Jill was a part of Delta Force, which makes her the most decorated of the three in terms of background.

Leon had no military or combat experience before becoming a police officer, but after surviving Raccoon City he was recruited by the US government to a team specifically trained for Anti-BOW combat.

 

[3BitSaurus]

Yea, Ryze would be wonky, but I think he's workable if he's given the time to rebalance. But I do lean towards Ahri as well, and Lux seems simple enough to work. Ahri would also fit LoL's balance of "Very quick movements and poking fights, as well as threading the needle. Champions are pidgeonholed into roles, sure, but you know what they're gonna do as a basic idea." There's some bonus points though for Ahri and Ryze - Faker has used them extensively AFAIK. His impact does give Ahri some additional weight.

Yea, I do agree with your other point, and it's not just LoL which has that "some characters are too basic, others are way to complex" problem. Dota 2 also has that problem with a lot of its poster children, perhaps even to a worse degree (at least a couple are workable, like LoL's case). What with Dota's balance being completely different from LoL's (much more all-in on a character's abilities, but also providing some unusual utility and flexibility, allowing most heroes to played as whatever depending on patch.). I'd presume that SMITE - which is on the Switch already funnily enough - also has that problem.

Yeah, pretty much this. I kinda dislike how they sometimes block opportunities to play champions outside of their niche in League, but hey, for a fighting game, that could make some sense. And yeah, the fact that these champions are also used in competitive and aren't just poster children could be important in that situation.

I've never played Dota, but my friends who do describe the balancing as pretty much "everyone is broken, so no one is broken". Dunno about characters that could get picked, but my bet is that maybe some unique stuff could arise from it?

I know Summoner's Rift has more than enough content for interesting stage hazards, but I wonder about songs... they'd have to pick from the championship stuff, I bet. As for Spirits, it's ridiculously easy to come up with ideas.

*Twitches when you mention Teemo.*

Well, guess this is a bad time to mention he was my secondary as a top laner, isn't it?

 

[SKX31]

Yeah, pretty much this. I kinda dislike how they sometimes block opportunities to play champions outside of their niche in League, but hey, for a fighting game, that could make some sense. And yeah, the fact that these champions are also used in competitive and aren't just poster children could be important in that situation.

I've never played Dota, but my friends who do describe the balancing as pretty much "everyone is broken, so no one is broken". Dunno about characters that could get picked, but my bet is that maybe some unique stuff could arise from it?

I know Summoner's Rift has more than enough content for interesting stage hazards, but I wonder about songs... they'd have to pick from the championship stuff, I bet. As for Spirits, it's ridiculously easy to come up with ideas.

Well, guess this is a bad time to mention he was my secondary as a top laner, isn't it?

I can understand why they do it though (my personal issue is either grinding or paying for new Champions, but that's a well-trampled road when discussing LoL). For a casual player it's very easy to tell "Ah, this character fills X role".

Yes, "Everyone is broken, so no one is." sums Dota up pretty well. In the right situation anyone can be a true terror (There's a hero who is basically Hero's crits - but her spells are meant to ensure those crits and the damage scales with items) so the true balance / counterplay comes from positioning, timing and spell / item usage.

As far as songs go, using the iconic song as the main piece and then going off of the rest of the OST to help fill out the other slots might be the best way to go, regardless of MOBA. Not sure what is LoL's leitmotif, is it "Summoner's Call" perhaps? The championship stuff would also be interesting, but in that case Sakurai may have to approach people like Imagine Dragons (They did collab wth Riot for Worlds 2014) and other third parties (Interestingly enough Deadmau5 collabed with Valve for Dota 2's World Cup in 2015). I'm not completely sure if Sakurai's comfortable with approaching mainstream famous musicians for Smash just yet. The most famous musicians are well, people like Kondo, Shimomura and Uematsu, but I wouldn't count them as "mainstream famous". Kondo comes closest though, IIRC.

Not to mention that out of all the Xenoblade Spirits that make an appearance in World of Light, not a single one is from X. There has definitely been something going on regarding that game behind the scenes.

I'd be cautious around that, since it could mean anything really. Yes, it could mean Elma's getting a Smash appearance, but it could also be another project or it simply being forgotten. It's a major shame too, since I personally love X's soundtrack especially. It has a really good mix of vocal tracks, something which Nintendo normally doesn't do.

 

[Michael the Spikester]

Still stand out on these four being the final character for this pass.

-Capcom rep (Dante, Phoenix Wright, RE rep)
-Crash Bandicoot
-Doom Slayer
-Ryu Hayabusa

Still betting on Doom Slayer out of the four.

 

[TheAJJohnson]

Not to mention that out of all the Xenoblade Spirits that make an appearance in World of Light, not a single one is from X. There has definitely been something going on regarding that game behind the scenes.

That's not true. There are 5 spirits from X, including Elma.

Eastern companies not in Smash? Layton from Level-5 and Ryu Hayabusa from Tecmo Koei are the ones that come to mind. Travis Touchdown too, but he was disconfirmed for this first pass.

So then comes my next question. Do either of these characters, in your opinion, stand a chance against western studios and their most likely characters, like Doomslayer/Dovahkiin, Crash, and/or Rayman?

 

[GoodGrief741]

So then comes my next question. Do either of these characters, in your opinion, stand a chance against western studios and their most likely characters, like Doomslayer/Dovahkiin, Crash, and/or Rayman?

I think they're likelier than all of those except Crash. I don't see us getting another Western character, and especially not Doomguy or Rayman.

 

[Calamitas]

I'd be cautious around that, since it could mean anything really. Yes, it could mean Elma's getting a Smash appearance, but it could also be another project or it simply being forgotten. It's a major shame too, since I personally love X's soundtrack especially. It has a really good mix of vocal tracks, something which Nintendo normally doesn't do.

Dude, I just said that something has been going on. That something doesn't have to be her to be being playable. Though I will say it would be extremely silly to think that they just forgot about X when they've been very meticulous when it came to sourcing Spirits.

That's not true. There are 5 spirits from X, including Elma.

Did you even read what I said? I was talking about Word of Light, not Ultimate in general.

 

[Rie Sonomura]

That's not true. There are 5 spirits from X, including Elma.

Said Spirits aren’t actually in WoL though. They’re only on the Spirit Board, and Elma herself is initially unlocked upon freeing 50 fighters and then backing out of WoL. She won’t appear on the Spirit Board before then.

 

[kaithehedgefox]

Friendly reminder that the dlc fighters in the Fighters Pass were probably already chosen before the possibility of further dlc was discussed.
They probably wanted to see how well the dlc made first before making a choice.
THUS, Sakurai maybe didn't think there would be further dlc, and so he thought of having the final fighter be the big one to end on.
Of course now there are more possibilities, but the fighter 5 will still be big enough as a last fighters pass character to sell even more of them IMO...

I don't think any spirits will be promoted in the first fighters pass, but I think spirits can be promoted in the rest of the DLC.

 

[Michael the Spikester]

Besides everyone or at least almost is on the agreement at this point Spirits don't deconfirm fighters.

 

[kaithehedgefox]

Besides everyone or at least almost is on the agreement at this point Spirits don't deconfirm fighters.

Correct, I think they only deconfirm for the 1st fighters pass, they can still be promoted to playable in the rest of the DLC. And I think assist trophies may be able to be promoted only if another character who has similar proportions or looks similar replaces them when they are in battle.

 

[Aetheri]

Correct, I think they only deconfirm for the 1st fighters pass, they can still be promoted to playable in the rest of the DLC. And I think assist trophies may be able to be promoted only if another character who has similar proportions or looks similar replaces them when they are in battle.

Why not have the rng so that character doesn't even appear when they are active?

 

[MainJPW]

And I think assist trophies may be able to be promoted only if another character who has similar proportions or looks similar replaces them when they are in battle.

That wouldn't make sense and would only serve to piss off fans of those characters. Just use an RNG.

 

[Curious Villager]

I think they're likelier than all of those except Crash. I don't see us getting another Western character, and especially not Doomguy or Rayman.

Yeah I'm not really sure how many Western third parties we'd see relative to Japanese ones once all is said and done, I'd think we'd see most of them be revealed at western centric events like E3 and the VGA and whatnot, like Banjo.

Crash is probably the one Western third party I'd feel to be the safest bet out of most of them and maybe Doom Marine and Steve. The rest depend I guess...

 

[kaithehedgefox]

Why not have the rng so that character doesn't even appear when they are active?

Well the reason why they would need to do assist trophy reskinning is because making the assist trophy not appear when the character is in battle would effect game mechanics.

 

[Cutie Gwen]

Correct, I think they only deconfirm for the 1st fighters pass, they can still be promoted to playable in the rest of the DLC. And I think assist trophies may be able to be promoted only if another character who has similar proportions or looks similar replaces them when they are in battle.

Yeah, how about we replace Sonic with Dillon?

 

[RoboFist]

- More actual Paper Mario stages

Lavalava Island or bust!

 

[Aetheri]

Well the reason why they would need to do assist trophy reskinning is because making the assist trophy not appear when the character is in battle would effect game mechanics.

Not really, there's a 1/59(cant remember exact number) chance for each assist trophy. The rng would adjust based on which fighter is active.

A whole lot easier of a fix then adding in an entire character as a replacement.

 

[Garteam]

Well the reason why they would need to do assist trophy reskinning is because making the assist trophy not appear when the character is in battle would effect game mechanics.

Honestly, it wouldn't effect game mechanics too much. The only place where certain assist trophies have to spawn are a handful of spirit battles, so you could make an exception to the rule and allow both the fighter and assist in that battle, or you could just not let the fighter partake in any spirit battles that involve their assist trophy.

Otherwise, just adjust the RNG so that assist trophy doesn't spawn if their character is active, similar to how Alucard can't spawn on the Wii Fit Studio.

 

[YoshiandToad]

Lavalava Island or bust!

Glitz Pit please and thank you. My most wanted stage even after we got Mac's boxing ring.

 

[Door Key Pig]

I know that Bomberman and Bomb Man have similar names and abilities, but it's because Bomb Man and Bomberman have different proportions, Bombman is rather fat, whereas Cutman has more similar proportions to Bomberman. Which seems justified.

I could also just replace Bomberman with Emerl instead.

Also I predict that if Ryo (king of fighters) becomes part of Terry's DLC spirit board, the Akira assist trophy will be used in Ryo's spirit battle.

Does Cutman have anything to do with bombs on an intrinsic level?

 

[Calamitas]

Not really, there's a 1/59(cant remember exact number) chance for each assist trophy. The rng would adjust based on which fighter is active.

A whole lot easier of a fix then adding in an entire character as a replacement.

Not to mention that some Assist Trophies are already disabled on certain stages. The Moon on the Great Bay stage comes to mind.

 

[DarthEnderX]

Well the reason why they would need to do assist trophy reskinning is because making the assist trophy not appear when the character is in battle would effect game mechanics.

Or they'd just remove the Assist Trophy entirely and replace it with nothing.

 

[MainJPW]

I could also just replace Bomberman with Emerl instead.

They don't share proportions first of all:

Spoiler

Second, they aren't remotely similar. Emerl is a Sonic clone in his debut appearance which means it won't make sense for him to chuck bombs around.

 

[RoboFist]

They don't share proportions first of all:

Spoiler

Second, they aren't remotely similar. Emerl is a Sonic clone in his debut appearance which means it won't make sense for him to chuck bombs around.

Oh damn though, Sonic Battle was my jam! I'd be the only one on the planet who would prefer Sonic's Echo to be Emerl over Shadow, but that's a horde of violent haters I'd be willing to brave.

 

[kaithehedgefox]

Or they'd just remove the Assist Trophy entirely and replace it with nothing.

That would still effect game mechanics so it doesn't work.

They don't share proportions first of all:

Spoiler

Second, they aren't remotely similar. Emerl is a Sonic clone in his debut appearance which means it won't make sense for him to chuck bombs around.

Well, they could just shrink Emerl's proportions to fit the bomberman model. And since Emerl can copy moves, I think he would still be able to use bomberman's bombs. Also reskinning an assist trophy only changes appearance, not behavior/mechanics.

Oh damn though, Sonic Battle was my jam! I'd be the only one on the planet who would prefer Sonic's Echo to be Emerl over Shadow, but that's a horde of violent haters I'd be willing to brave.

Well, Emerl is not a main character in the Sonic franchise, so he can't be playable. This also explains why Waluigi is an assist trophy and not playable. And piranha plant is just an exception. Aside from that I think Sakurai only wants to have major playable characters.

Honestly, it wouldn't effect game mechanics too much. The only place where certain assist trophies have to spawn are a handful of spirit battles, so you could make an exception to the rule and allow both the fighter and assist in that battle, or you could just not let the fighter partake in any spirit battles that involve their assist trophy.

Well due to assist trophies being used in Spirit battles, that's why assist trophy skins are required if an assist trophy gets promoted to playable via DLC. For example if a player is playing as Waluigi and the Waluigi assist trophy is being used in the spirit battle, Papyrus will simply replace and mimic Waluigi's assist trophy.

Also here are some assist trophy replacement skins via modding/hacking I thought of.

Spoiler: assist trophy skin ideas

Papyrus over Waluigi

Spring Tron over Spring Man

Goku over Akira (Virtura Fighter)

Miku Hatsune over Lyndis

Lilac (freedom planet) over Knuckles

Scourge (sonic) over Shadow

Crono (chrono trigger) over Isaac

Emerl (sonic) over Bomberman

 

[TheCJBrine]

That would still effect game mechanics so it doesn't work.


Well, they could just shrink Emerl's proportions to fit the bomberman model. And since Emerl can copy moves, I think he would still be able to use bomberman's bombs. Also reskinning an assist trophy only changes appearance, not behavior/mechanics.


Well, Emerl is not a main character in the Sonic franchise, so he can't be playable. This also explains why Waluigi is an assist trophy and not playable. And piranha plant is just an exception. Aside from that I think Sakurai only wants to have major playable characters.


Well due to assist trophies being used in Spirit battles, that's why assist trophy skins are required if an assist trophy gets promoted to playable via DLC. For example if a player is playing as Waluigi and the Waluigi assist trophy is being used in the spirit battle, Papyrus will simply replace and mimic Waluigi's assist trophy.

Also here are some assist trophy replacement skins via modding/hacking I thought of.

Spoiler: assist trophy skin ideas

Papyrus over Waluigi

Spring Tron over Spring Man

Goku over Akira (Virtura Fighter)

Miku Hatsune over Lyndis

Lilac (freedom planet) over Knuckles

Scourge (sonic) over Shadow

Crono (chrono trigger) over Isaac

Emerl (sonic) over Bomberman

All they have to do is have the Assist Trophy be disabled when the fighter is in the battle.

And if the character’s Spirit Battle involves their AT? Just replace the opponent with them and remove the Assist Trophy from the match.

 

[TheAJJohnson]

Said Spirits aren’t actually in WoL though. They’re only on the Spirit Board, and Elma herself is initially unlocked upon freeing 50 fighters and then backing out of WoL. She won’t appear on the Spirit Board before then.

Ah...this is true. Misread the initial post. Was tired. Carry on.

Dude, I just said that something has been going on. That something doesn't have to be her to be being playable. Though I will say it would be extremely silly to think that they just forgot about X when they've been very meticulous when it came to sourcing Spirits.



Did you even read what I said? I was talking about Word of Light, not Ultimate in general.

My apologies. I misread it. Was tired. Carry on.

 

[SKX31]

Yeah I'm not really sure how many Western third parties we'd see relative to Japanese ones once all is said and done, I'd think we'd see most of them be revealed at a western centric events like E3 and the VGA and whatnot, like Banjo.

Crash is probably the one Western third party I'd feel to be the safest bet out most of them and maybe Doom Marine and Steve. The rest depend I guess...

That's somewhat how I feel on them too. There are also some possible "spanners in the works" (one reason I've been harping on the Chinese release, because some Western characters have the added bonus of being popular there. Although that's a secondary factor). I'm more optimistic on Marine, Tracer and Steve, although cautiously so. Alongside dark horses like Rayman / Ezio.

Then again, Sakurai's want to promote Japanese games and Furukawa's want to expand and extend Nintendo's reach internationally - beyond Japan, NA and EU - seems kinda at odds with each other. If anything though, Furukawa's willing to look the other way since a) he's a Famicom kid so he knows and understands Sakurai's opinions, and b) A lot of Japanese characters also do well internationally.

I don't think Sakurai will mind putting in at least some more Western characters though. I'd point to his Half Life 2 / Halo 2 column again, but I'd be a broken record. Sure Japanese characters will still make up a major, if not the lion's share of DLC, but I could easily see 3-4 more Western characters at least.

Does Cutman have anything to do with bombs on an intrinsic level?

EDIT: The closest I can think of is Cut Man's weapon being Bomb Man's weakness in Powered Up's New Style mode (Remake of 1)

 

[TheAJJohnson]

I think they're likelier than all of those except Crash. I don't see us getting another Western character, and especially not Doomguy or Rayman.

When it comes to speculation with the 5th fighter pass character (and even to a degree the other DLC after the fighter pass), I understand that Japanese companies are easier to work with, therefore we have a higher chance of getting eastern reps. At the same time, I don't think any company will double dip in the fighter pass. I also feel like Capcom, Konami, and Sega have quite a few reps already, so getting more from them when other iconic characters from other companies are requested seems kind of...jacked up, for lack of a better term.

That being said, aside from Bandai Namco, I have a hard time seeing a rep from one of these other companies, like Ryu Hayabusa, being chosen over western powerhouses like Rayman or Crash. Now if companies can double dip, I could see Microsoft or Square getting the 5th slot with Geno and Steve, respectively. Additionally, Konami, Sega, and Capcom (the latter two, especially) do have quite a few iconic characters not represented, so as much as I think people want to see diversity among companies, it would be really easy to pull from them.

 

[Curious Villager]

That's somewhat how I feel on them too. There are also some possible "spanners in the works" (one reason I've been harping on the Chinese release, because some Western characters have the added bonus of being popular there. Although that's a secondary factor). I'm more optimistic on Marine, Tracer and Steve, although cautiously so. Alongside dark horses like Rayman / Ezio.

Then again, Sakurai's want to promote Japanese games and Furukawa's want to expand and extend Nintendo's reach internationally - beyond Japan, NA and EU - seems kinda at odds with each other. If anything though, Furukawa's willing to look the other way since a) he's a Famicom kid so he knows and understands Sakurai's opinions, and b) A lot of Japanese characters also do well internationally.

I don't think Sakurai will mind putting in at least some more Western characters though. I'd point to his Half Life 2 / Halo 2 column again, but I'd be a broken record. Sure Japanese characters will still make up a major, if not the lion's share of DLC, but I could easily see 3-4 more Western characters at least.

EDIT: Mistook a qoute!

Yeah I'm kind of on that ballpark too. Kind of like how third parties in general where a special occasion in the past reserved for special events like E3 and whatnot, it could probably be something like that with Western third parties to Japanese third parties and the like this time.

That's just how I feel though, based on some of the comments Sakurai made in regards to third parties and what we seem to be getting so far.
Like you said, about 3/4 more Western third parties sounds about right.

 

[Door Key Pig]

EDIT: The closest I can think of is Cut Man's weapon being Bomb Man's weakness in Powered Up's New Style mode (Remake of 1)

If it's just that, then it truly sounds like this guy's the kinda person that'd have the Stunt Race FX Car fill in for Rathalos.

 

[KatKit]

And I think assist trophies may be able to be promoted only if Alfonzo replaces them when they are in battle.

Alfonzo: Leave it to me.

Fixed that for you.

 

[SMAASH! Puppy]

Well the reason why they would need to do assist trophy reskinning is because making the assist trophy not appear when the character is in battle would effect game mechanics.

This isn't that big a deal. There are already Assist Trophies that flat out don't appear on certain stages due to background elements. As for the spirit battles, they could just slap an alternate costume on the assist trophy should the player be playing as that character or just trust that the player can tell the difference between the lovingly rendered and animated playable character and the low poly Assist Trophy or will switch characters for that one fight if they can't.

 

[NoOtherPersona]

When it comes to speculation with the 5th fighter pass character (and even to a degree the other DLC after the fighter pass), I understand that Japanese companies are easier to work with, therefore we have a higher chance of getting eastern reps. At the same time, I don't think any company will double dip in the fighter pass. I also feel like Capcom, Konami, and Sega have quite a few reps already, so getting more from them when other iconic characters from other companies are requested seems kind of...jacked up, for lack of a better term.

That being said, aside from Bandai Namco, I have a hard time seeing a rep from one of these other companies, like Ryu Hayabusa, being chosen over western powerhouses like Rayman or Crash. Now if companies can double dip, I could see Microsoft or Square getting the 5th slot with Geno and Steve, respectively. Additionally, Konami, Sega, and Capcom (the latter two, especially) do have quite a few iconic characters not represented, so as much as I think people want to see diversity among companies, it would be really easy to pull from them.

in all honesty, there might be more reps from more well known western franchises but at the same time there is still quite a bit of Japanese companies still overlooked some small niche ones that i can see Nintendo wanting to take advantage and incentivize them to work on a game for there platform more often also Koei Tecom at this point deserves something more then that crappy assist trophy that they got they've done so much for Nintendo at this point also I'd like to see that Sakurai half-life read do you mind linking it