Ever since Persona 5's Joker was announced as being the first DLC character for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (not counting Piranha Plant), fans and non-fans of Atlus' JRPG mega-hit have been feverishly anticipating his eventual release. However, information about the character has been virtually non-existent in the last three months. We only got to see Joker's official character art and amiibo pose thanks to a leak from Best Buy, and just when it looks like he will finally drop soon, it's now been suggested that his release could be delayed.

Granted, there's no official statement that this is the case, but it was recently noticed that something a tad off has occurred ever since a Nintendo livestream that showcased a trailer for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate's Challenger Pack, which offers five brand new playable characters, including Joker. Initially, it stated that Joker would be arriving some time in April, but it's since been changed to say that Joker's just "Approaching," with no hint to a release window at all.

It's entirely possible that this doesn't actually mean anything and that maybe Joker's still on track to release this month and Nintendo just removed "April" to avoid redundancy. However, some are already suspecting that there are development issues involving Joker and his gameplay in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, meaning Nintendo removed the month so as not to falsely advertise his release. It's hard to tell considering both Nintendo and Atlus have remained tight-lipped about everything involving Joker. For instance, we haven't even seen any gameplay footage of him, and his inclusion has barely been discussed.

This isn't necessarily anything new for Atlus, which has become rather notorious for constantly teasing upcoming projects. In only the last few weeks, the company's supposed announcement of the mysterious Persona 5 The Royal turned out be another short and very ambiguous teaser, with a promise that more details will come this month. And even more recently, Atlus began hinting at something titled Persona 5 S, with a new leak heavily suggesting that this will be the long-rumored Persona 5 Switch port.

While we wait for Nintendo's official confirmation date of Joker's inclusion in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, many are also wondering when the Big N will announce and confirm the the rest of the DLC characters for the fighting game. As with the addition of the Persona 5 protagonist, only time can tell when that will occur.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is available right now exclusively for Nintendo Switch.

Source: SomeKidNick – Twitter (via VGR)