The biggest thing for Masahiro Sakurai, creator and director of the Super Smash Bros. series, as well as the upcoming Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, was trying to keep a lid on the project. Not just the fact that a new Smash Bros. was being developed, but more importantly, the game’s central concept of “everyone is here”, with all characters from every game in the series so far returning in this new one.
Speaking in his column in Famitsu (translation by Ryokyuta), Sakurai revealed that they achieved this by keeping the development of the game totally top secret- so secret, in fact, that many at Nintendo didn’t even know about what was going on with the game.
Sakurai says that if that had leaked beforehand, the otherwise positive reception the game’s unveiling got would have been far more subdued, and it would have taken away from the element of surprise. He says he didn’t want all the years of work he put into getting this to happen ruined by someone who wanted a bit of internet fame. Which, maybe, is something to keep in mind for those who engage in leaking games, the next time they think about doing it.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate launches on December 7, exclusively on the Nintendo Switch.