Was the wording really that strict on the cutting back on the team and funds (specially since it's still early translations)? I mean, it's entirely possible, maybe even likely, we'll get only 6 fighters as DLC, but the team scaling down makes sense, 6 or 6+ DLC characters. The work load went from "Advertising, engine tuning, quality control, business dealings, asset creation, 100+ stages, 70+ characters to create/edit" to "patching, weekly spirit battles, 6 stages, 6 fighters." I'm all for tempering expectations, and expecting only 6 is the healthy way to look at it, but I don't know if "All but confirmed dead" is exactly fair : p
No reason Nintendo wouldn't be able to put people back on the team or extend it too if they choose. Success of the pass and game going forward will determine that (though it's Smash, like Mario Kart, it'll probably be able to stand on its own feet just fine).