As always, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate fans have been hard at work speculating as to who the game's final 2 remaining DLC fighters could be, or if there could even be more fighters after the 2nd Fighters Pass for that matter. Fans of the game have searched for and wide for clues, from tweets from director Masahiro Sakurai, to looking deep into the game's code to find patterns or clues as to who could join the iconic platform fighter next.
For many fans, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate has been the game to make dreams come true, adding long-awaited characters like Samus' nemesis Ridley, Banjo and Kazooie, and even Steve from Minecraft. With around 80 playable fighters so far, it goes without saying that Ultimate has cemented itself as the definitive Smash game, and now, fans think that Halo's Master Chief could be coming to the game to round out the roster.
While a lot of factors play into this speculation, one major rumor revolves around the Nintendo Switch seen behind Xbox executive Phil Spencer in some videos. Credible gaming insider Jeff Grub has gone on to say that everything behind Spencer "meant something." Further, Xbox insider Shpeshal_Ed hinted at some sort of partnership between Xbox and Nintendo. Finally, seemingly out of the blue, the official Halo Instagram account posted a photo featuring a piece of Mario and Halo crossover fan art.
In the past, Xbox's Phil Spencer has been known to tease fans in the background of his videos by placing hints as to what's to come. As for an upcoming collaboration between Xbox and Nintendo, fans have speculated that it could be a variety of things, such as Xbox Game Pass coming to the Switch. The Mario x Halo art may be the most puzzling, as it could mean anywhere from nothing to everything for Master Chief's chances in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. While it's a neat piece of fan art, it's hard to imagine that the official Halo social media accounts would be unaware of the abundance of rumors surrounding the Chief in Ultimate.
Some fan theories speculate that initially, Nintendo had planned to reveal a Microsoft fighter for Smash at each E3 presentation. Banjo and Kazooie were revealed at E3 in 2019, and although E3 2020 was canceled due to COVID-19, fans suspect that Steve was meant to be the big Smash reveal then, so, it may make sense that Nintendo would want to save another massive Microsoft reveal for E3 2021.
For years, fans have requested Master Chief for Super Smash Bros., and while the prospect may have seemed impossible in the past, it now seems more likely than ever, especially given Nintendo's growing relationship with Microsoft, and that Ultimate already contains 2 Microsoft fighters in Banjo and Kazooie and Steve. For the time being, fans expect to see the next Smash reveal at E3 this June.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is available now for Nintendo Switch.