Super Smash Bros. Ultimate was already one of the most content-packed games of its kind when it first launched, and with a steady stream of post-launch DLC over the next few years, it became an even meatier package. And though support for the fighter has officially ended, with its final DLC character arriving in October 2021, followed by its final fighter adjustments later that year, Nintendo has announced a new content drop.
On January 11, new Spirits will become available in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate for players to add to their Spirit Boards. The Spirits will be available for five days, and will bring characters from several Nintendo titles that have released since support ended for Smash Ultimate. Artwork shared by Nintendo seems to suggest we’ll be getting Spirits for Rauru from The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Oatchi from Pikmin 4, Noah and Mio from Xenoblade Chronicles 3, and Shiver and Frye from Splatoon 3.
Though it’s been several years since the launch of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, little is known yet about what the future holds for the franchise. Back in November 2021, series creator and director Masahiro Sakurai said he hadn’t started thinking about the next Smash instalment just yet (with support for Ultimate having only just ended at the time), and later added that the next game would likely have to shrink its roster of fighters.
In July last year, Sakurai said that though it was “fair to assume” that there would be another Smash game “at some point”, it would “take some work to figure out exactly how to make that happen.”