Smash Bros Switch could launch alongside Nintendo Switch Online, new information from Nintendo’s latest financial briefing has suggested.
Nintendo was asked how it was going to help popularize Nintendo Switch Online following the paid service’s hefty delay, with the company’s Tatsumi Kimishima and Shinya Takahashi elaborating on their thoughts.
“As for how we plan to popularize the service, it is less about the mechanism and more a question of what kind of products we can offer, and the spread of the service will depend on whether consumer want what we offer,” Kimishima said. “Please give us a bit more time to announce more details about the service. I think that announcement will convey to you how we plan to popularize the service.”
Takahashi added: “We have some ideas about how to make Nintendo Switch Online appealing when it becomes a for-pay service, so I think our next announcement will be worth the wait.”
While Nintendo hasn’t mentioned Smash Bros Switch by name, Kimishima’s comment that products will sell the service certainly suggests that the company is looking to release online-focused games around the launch of the service. With Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Splatoon 2 having already released on the Switch, this leaves Super Smash Bros as the only major multiplayer-focused series that has yet to release on the console.
Takahashi’s comments seem to suggest that the company’s next announcement will include more details about the service, and perhaps about the game that will be released alongside it. After the release of Super Mario Odyssey, Nintendo doesn’t have many in-house game projects on its calendar, so it could well be working on a brand new Smash Bros game or a remaster of Super Smash Bros for Wii U. We’ll just have to wait and see.
