Both versions of Super Smash Bros. will not be getting paid downloadable content anytime soon. In an interview, game director Masahiro Sakurai stated “we aren’t working on (any paid DLC) at the moment.”
Compared to their competitors, Nintendo has only recently gotten into the business of making DLC for their games, but they’ve done so with some regularity. Most of their major releases have received some kind of DLC support, and Super Smash Bros. seems rife for new characters and stages via DLC. Sakurai understands the impulse but sees the downside of doing so.
I understand that DLC could add a lot to the appeal of Smash Bros., and I appreciate that a major part of the excitement for these games come from which characters will appear in the roster, so I think fans could really enjoy DLC that could keep this excitement going. However, I think there might be criticism that we are cutting up content to sell characters one by one, or that we are adding things later that should have been there from the start.
Despite his reservations on the subject, he has not written out all possibilities of paid DLC in the future. All he can say for certain is that they have not and are not working on any paid DLC at the moment.
Additionally, Sakurai was asked whether or not leaderboards for certain modes would be added in the future. Unlike paid DLC, Sakurai is much more absolute on his stance on leaderboards.
No, I’m afraid not. I find that there is a big problem with traditional leaderboards, in that they can only really be enjoyed by the people at the top. I didn’t want a system where only the best players compete and get enjoyment from ranking near the top.
It should be noted that the handheld version, Super Smash Bros. for 3DS, does have a Global Smash Power ranking. Instead of ranking the player against the top player, it tells players how many other people has a lower score than them.
