Smash Ultimate's next fighter could arrive soon, Fighters Pass 2 sale hints

The Japanese website for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate revealed that Nintendo will start selling physical download codes for Fighters Pass 2 soon, suggesting that the reveal of the sixth DLC fighter is imminent, but when exactly might this happen?

Physical cards for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate's Fighters Pass 2 seemingly went on sale Tuesday on the game's official Japanese website. These codes are put in actual envelopes that look like the in-game invitations that new Super Smash Bros. Ultimate characters receive in their respective trailers, and they will be available for purchase starting March 23.

It seems likely that Nintendo would want players to know something about the seventh DLC character before then. This listing, therefore, implies that we might finally get some kind of important Nintendo Direct during the month of March during which the new character is confirmed.

The last DLC fighter to join Super Smash Bros. Ultimate was Byleth from Fire Emblem: Three Houses. They were a divisive character because the Fire Emblem series is already well-represented in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Byleth was originally revealed in mid-January roughly two weeks before their release, so we might be looking at a similar timeline for the next character later this month.

During Byleth's announcement, Game Director Masahiro Sakurai confirmed that six more DLC fighters were coming as part of Fighters Pass 2 before the end of 2021. That's roughly three per year, so for the next character to be announced before the end of March 2020 makes a lot of sense.

While players have already been able to buy the Fighters Pass 2 since January 28 without knowing any of the characters on the Nintendo eShop, this physical release shows things are ramping up. As exciting as this might be, Sakurai has subsequently confirmed that these would also be the last six fighters for the game.

The Inverse Analysis

While these cards may just be Nintendo trying to get the Fighters Pass 2 into the hands of more players and not necessarily a hint about the release timeline, it'd be wise for the company to reveal the sixth character in March. Six fighters are being added to the game by the end of 2021, so it's about time for Nintendo to release some information about the next fighter.

Even if the next fighter isn't released by the end of March, it's likely that we might get some kind of reveal before the end of the month. As the cards go on sale starting March 23, a Nintendo Direct reveal could happen either that week or even the week before.

The fighter will likely be revealed during a large presentation, whether it's a full-fledged Nintendo Direct, which has been widely speculated to be happening in March, or a Smash-focused video like Byleth got. The most likely dates for this are March 19, the week before the cards go on sale, or March 26, the Thursday after the cards go on sale.

Fighter releases tend to happen at least once a quarter, and we are already almost two months out from the release of Byleth. Even if the next fighter doesn't arrive until April or May, Nintendo should want us to know about it beforehand, making a March reveal likely. Some of the most requested characters include Sora from Kingdom Hearts, Geno from Super Mario RPG, Dante from Devil May Cry, Waluigi, and a Hunter from Monster Hunter, so hopefully one of them is the first character to arrive as part of Fighters Pass 2.