In the long arc of video game history, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate now stands as a completed monument — 89 fighters drawn from 40 franchises, a crossover of digital mythology that Nintendo has formally sealed. The closure of its roster is not merely a product decision but a kind of cultural punctuation mark, signaling that one chapter of gaming's great gathering has ended. What remains is a fixed world, rich enough for mastery, stable enough for legacy, and finite enough to invite the imagination toward whatever comes next.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate's 89-Fighter Roster Now Complete
No new fighters will be added to this version of the game.
Mark
So the roster is done. Eighty-nine characters. Does that number mean anything to people who don't play fighting games?
Mimi
It's genuinely massive for the genre. Most fighting games launch with 30 to 50 characters. Eighty-nine is the result of nearly four years of continuous development and paid DLC. It's a statement about scope.
Luke
Though we should note—that 89 includes Echo Fighters, which are mechanically cloned movesets. If you're counting unique fighting systems, the number is lower. Nintendo's being transparent about that, but it's worth flagging.
Mark
Why did they stop? Did they run out of ideas?
Mimi
Probably not ideas. More likely resource allocation. They've been supporting this game since 2018. At some point, the cost of developing new characters—new animations, new mechanics, new balance testing—outweighs the revenue from DLC sales.
Luke
We don't have Nintendo's internal numbers on that, though. We know they stopped. We don't know the exact business reasoning.
Mark
What happens to people who bought the Fighter Pass?
Mimi
They got what they paid for. The Fighter Pass included all 13 DLC characters as they released. If someone bought it, they have access to all of them now.
Luke
Though some players might have expected more characters to come, given how long the DLC window stayed open. That's a perception question, not a fact question.
Mark
Is this the end of Smash Bros. entirely?
Mimi
No. A sequel will almost certainly come eventually. Nintendo hasn't announced one, but the franchise is too important to the company's competitive gaming strategy to stay dormant forever.
Luke
And when it does come, we genuinely don't know if it'll have more or fewer characters. That's speculation territory.
Mark
So players have what they have now.
Mimi
Exactly. Eighty-nine characters to learn, master, and compete with. That's the final product.
O Pulso
- Nintendo has officially closed the door on new fighters for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, ending years of surprise character announcements that kept the community in constant anticipation.
- The final roster — 89 characters spanning Mario, Pikachu, Sora, and dozens more — represents the largest and most diverse lineup in the franchise's history, drawing from 40 different game series.
- Seven Echo Fighters quietly expanded the roster's perceived size by mirroring existing movesets, a pragmatic design choice that balanced breadth with development resources.
- Thirteen DLC fighters arrived over three years, each bundled with stages and music, with Kingdom Hearts' Sora landing as the final addition in October 2021.
- Competitive and casual players alike must now reckon with a fixed universe — no new arrivals, no surprise reveals — while the industry watches for signs of an inevitable sequel.
In the long arc of video game history, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate now stands as a completed monument — 89 fighters drawn from 40 franchises, a crossover of digital mythology that Nintendo has formally sealed. The closure of its roster is not merely a product decision but a kind of cultural punctuation mark, signaling that one chapter of gaming's great gathering has ended. What remains is a fixed world, rich enough for mastery, stable enough for legacy, and finite enough to invite the imagination toward whatever comes next.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate has reached its end. Nintendo confirmed that no new fighters will join the game's roster, closing the book on what became the largest character lineup in the franchise's history — 89 playable fighters drawn from 40 different video game series.
The base game launched in 2018 with 76 characters, ranging from longtime icons like Link and Donkey Kong to newer faces like Inkling and Ridley. Among them were seven Echo Fighters — characters like Daisy, Lucina, and Dark Samus who borrow their movesets from existing fighters, allowing Nintendo to broaden the roster without building entirely new combat systems from scratch.
Over the following three years, 13 DLC fighters arrived in waves, each accompanied by new stages, music, and collectible spirits. The additions moved from Piranha Plant and Joker in the early days to Minecraft's Steve and Alex, Final Fantasy VII's Sephiroth, and ultimately Sora from Kingdom Hearts — the final character, released in October 2021.
With development now fully concluded, the 89-fighter roster is fixed. No beloved franchise will gain sudden representation, and no surprise announcements will ripple through the community. For those invested in the game, that finality brings both clarity and closure — a stable world built for deep play. And somewhere beyond it, a sequel waits to begin its own story.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate has reached the end of its character expansion. Nintendo confirmed this week that no new fighters will be added to the game, marking the official close of development on what has become the largest roster in the franchise's history.
The final tally stands at 89 playable characters. That figure combines 76 fighters available in the base game with 13 additional characters released as paid downloadable content since the game's 2018 launch. These fighters span 40 different video game series—a sprawl that reaches from Nintendo's own franchises like Super Mario and Pokémon to third-party properties including Tekken and Final Fantasy. The breadth is staggering: you can play as Mario or Pikachu or Sora, the protagonist from Kingdom Hearts, all within the same game.
The base roster itself is substantial. Seventy-six characters were available at launch or unlocked through play, ranging from series stalwarts like Link and Donkey Kong to more recent additions like Inkling and Ridley. Among these are seven Echo Fighters—characters whose movesets are largely copied from existing fighters, offering visual variety without requiring entirely new combat mechanics. Daisy echoes Peach. Lucina mirrors Marth. Dark Samus borrows from Samus. This design choice allowed Nintendo to expand perceived roster size while managing development scope.
The 13 DLC fighters arrived in waves over three years. Early additions included Piranha Plant and Joker. Later came Steve and Alex from Minecraft, Sephiroth from Final Fantasy VII, and Sora from Kingdom Hearts. Each brought not just a new character but typically a new stage, musical tracks, and collectible spirits tied to their home franchises. The final DLC fighter was Sora, released in October 2021.
Nintendo's decision to close the roster marks a turning point. The company has been explicit: no more characters are coming to this version of the game. That finality suggests the developer's focus has shifted entirely away from expanding Ultimate and toward whatever comes next. A sequel remains inevitable—the Smash Bros. franchise is too central to Nintendo's competitive gaming identity to remain dormant. When that sequel arrives, it will almost certainly introduce a fresh roster, though whether it will match or exceed 89 characters remains unknown.
For players currently invested in Ultimate, the closure means the game's character pool is now fixed. The 89 fighters represent the complete universe available for competitive play, casual experimentation, and the kind of deep mastery that fighting game communities build around stable rosters. No surprise character announcements will arrive. No beloved franchise will suddenly gain representation. What exists now is what will remain.
Citações Notáveis
Nintendo has confirmed no new fighters will be added to its crossover fighting game for Nintendo Switch.— Nintendo (via official statement)
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