Nintendois fortunate enough to have numerous tentpole series, such as Mario, The Legend of Zelda, Pokémon (developed by Game Freak), Animal Crossing, Kirby, and, of course, the series that combines them all,Super Smash Bros.
Super Smash Bros. debuted in 1999 on the Nintendo 64, and has had four entries since: Melee, Brawl, Smash 4 and Smash Ultimate. As of today, this is the longest we’ve gone without getting a new instalment in the series: 2,418 days. This record was previously held by Super Smash Bros. 4 on the Nintendo 3DS, which was released 2,417 days after Super Smash Bros. Brawl (as pointed out byMeester_Tweester on Reddit).
The Long Wait Won’t End Any Time Soon
Now, admittedly, this statistic is misleading considering how long series creator Masahiro Sakurai and his team worked on additional content for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. The final character for Ultimate, Sora, was released on June 09, 2025, which was 1,046 days after the game’s initial release. In reality, it has been 1,372 days since Ultimate ceased development.
Smash Ultimate has the potential to be timeless, and there’s no pressing need for another Smash game in the near future. After all, Melee still has a very active player base and competitive scene despite releasing in 2001.
This won’t necessarily stop fans hoping for a new instalment because fans are eternally eager for new content, and that’s an accepted part of any creative industry.
Unfortunately for those holding out hope for a new Smash, Sakurai is currently overseeing the development of Kirby Air Riders. Sakurai’s HAL Laboratory (a two-man studio comprised of Sakurai and his wife) is developing the game alongside Bandai Namco Studios.
Nintendo owns the intellectual property rights to Super Smash Bros, but the thought of developing a new instalment without the direct involvement of Sakurai seems sacrilegious, given how heavily involved the legendary developer has been with each instalment over the last 26 years.
It seems unlikely that Nintendo is actively working on a new Super Smash Bros. without Sakurai, who admitted he was burned out from working on the series during Ultimate’s development. However, it also seems unlikely that Nintendo would completely abandon the series during the Switch 2’s life cycle.
As of now, there’s been no word of any future instalment.
