Hardcore players are well aware of the netcode and latency issues that have plagued Super Smash Bros. Ultimate's online matches since launch. Ever since Super Smash Bros. made its foray into online gaming with Brawl, lag on each subsequent release has become a growing problem. Now with Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, one of the best-selling fighting games of all time, the issues with Smash's online experience have never been more prevalent.
With quarantine shutting down in-person tournaments around the world and the second best option being online tournaments, Ultimate's online service has been tested rigorously. To many players, even casual fans, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate's online experience relies way to much on delay-based netcode. Now in a recent update to the game, it seems Nintendo and the Smash development team are committed to bettering the online experience. This is almost certainly a good sign that, eventually, Smash's online experience could become far better, but fans should be cautiously optimistic.
The Current State of Online Play for Smash Ultimate
Both hardcore and casual fans of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate have known for quite a while that the online experience wasn't ideal. Ultimate utilizes an online system based on "delay-based" netcode, a system for online play that's been around for a long time. Most fighting games up until recent years utilized a form of delay-based netcode prior to the innovations with rollback netcode. Ultimate is no different, but the current state of Smash's netcode is abysmal compared to other major fighting games like Street Fighter 5. Even it had problematic netcode and synchronization issues, but they were far superior compared to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate's netcode.
This was a problem for a while, one that many Nintendo fans had resigned the hope of ever getting fixed, but this problem came to head with the world pandemic forcing everyone home. For hardcore fans, that mean the cancellation of tournaments and locals for practice and competition. For casual fans, that meant online was laggy to the point of it being left behind for other online games. This was why the #FixUltimateOnline hashtag was trending on Twitter back in April, at the height of quarantine around the world. Now in a world where offline Ultimate play is near impossible, issues with the game's netcode are unavoidable and needed to be fixed.
Nintendo's Development Team Recognizes its Fans
In the wake of these mass complaints, a surprise update to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate lead to speculation amongst fans about what changes were made to online. Part of the patch notes for Ultimate's 8.1.0 patch noted that the "online user experience has been adjusted," and that "further investigations and adjustments to Online mode are expected," basically stating certain online attributes have been changed. Some of the changes to Elite Smash and Preferred Rules make sense in a vacuum, but the overall update doesn't effectively address Ultimate's netcode and latency issues.
Basically the only change apparently has to do with packet quantities in 1v1 matches specifically, increasing from 30 to 60 packets a second for online communication. This is not a huge change, and really doesn't drastically feel better compared to online's original state. Legendary smash player and expert Mew2King stated that the difference is a frame or two improvement at best. Basically, this is a miniscule change to online that doesn't drastically alter the experience from its previous form. However, the most interesting about the patch notes is that this update could be one of many improvements prepared for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate's online experience.
It's a Good Sign, But It'll Be A While for Ultimate
With Nintendo and the Smash development team looking into the problems with Ultimate online, this could be the first chance to truly improve the online infrastructure. Ideally, the Ultimate development would examine why its delay-based netcode causes serious latency and sync issues with other players. Hardcore fans are asking for an overhaul to rollback netcode, a form of network infrastructure that utilizes a simulates and accurately depicts the next frame and action of another player. Rollback netcode in games like Killer Instinct has made connecting and consistently playing with all players far better.
Though knowing Nintendo, this kind of major overhaul or change likely won't happen any time soon. When it comes to long-term support for titles, Nintendo hasn't always been as active or supportive of other developers and games. While the candid nature of this patch's latest notes does paint an encouraging picture, the Ultimate development team doesn't isn't necessarily planning any definitive action into improving the experience. This process likely means the development team is deciding whether or not it'd be worth it to invest in better netcode or other online infrastructure for the game.
Considering Ultimate has become the most-successful fighting game of all time, there's a clear attachment rate of fans with Ultimate that warrants an improvement to the online service. It likely won't happen any time soon, but perhaps a thorough investigation could lead the development team to making incremental improvements over time.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is available now on Switch.