Super Smash Bros Ultimate’s DLC is coming. While not everyone will feel a need to add to the game’s already towering roster of fighters, those who can’t get enough of their Smash Bros fix will be waiting to pounce on the additional fighters, outfits, soundtracks and more coming their way in 2019.

Super Smash Bros Ultimate is the biggest, and possibly the best, Smash Bros fighting game to grace our Nintendo consoles. Packed to bursting with over 100 stages, 74 starting fighters, and a dedicated single-player mode alongside tons of co-op content, and there’s never been as much Smash Bros to enjoy in one place.

Not content to rest on its laurels, though, it’s clear Nintendo has big plans for Smash Bros UItimate beyond its recent launch. You don’t put all that work into one game just to replace it two or three years in, after all – and Nintendo will be hoping to keep players buying and playing their title well into the next decade if they can.

So what downloadable content / DLC can players hope to get in 2019? Here’s our list of everything on the cards, and how you can make sure you don’t miss out.

Smash Bros Ultimate DLC characters

The real draw of Smash Bros DLC is in the fighters. Nintendo has teased a total of five fighters coming over the next year, though only a couple have been announced so far.

Piranha Plant (available for download)

A potted plant may not seem like the best fit for an action-packed fighting game, but Piranha Plant is a classic Mario nemesis going back decades – Nintendo certainly likes to play by its own rules. You can see some of Piranha Plant’s moves in the video below, including a monstrous Final Smash featuring Petey Piranha.

Players who bought Super Smash Bros Ultimate by the end of January 2019 had a chance to download the fighter early, but Piranha Plant is now available on the Switch eShop for $4.49 (£4.49 / AU$7.80).

Joker (coming April 2019)

No, not that Joker. Nintendo teased the trickster from Atlus’ paranormal RPG Persona 5 shortly after Ultimate’s launch, with a nifty animated teaser you can see below – showing off a glimpse of the game’s eye-catching graphic art style that we’re hoping will be carried over with the fighter. There are a ton of fun combat possibilities, with surely some of them seeing Joker draw on supernatural forces…

Persona 5 is a PS3 / PS4 exclusive, though, making Joker’s appearance on Switch all the more intriguing – and fuelling speculation that Persona 5 could be coming to Nintendo Switch.

Smash Bros Ultimate Challenger Packs

Technically you don’t just get a new fighter with each DLC pack. The new fighters each come in a bundle called a ‘Challenger Pack’, which throw in a new stage, and new soundtrack alongside the new character. You can buy each of the five Challenger’s Packs individually for $5.99 (£5.39 / AU$7.80). 

Alternatively you can buy an all-inclusive Fighters Pass for $24.99 (£22.49 / AU$32.50), which nets you each pack as it arrives, as well as a Mii Fighter outfit based on Xenoblade 2’s Rex.

Smash Bros Ultimate DLC leaks and rumors

So what of the remaining unannounced characters? Rumored leaks come through regularly, though so far none have really proved to be particularly trustworthy. We’ve heard calls for Banjo Kazooie so often it’s started hurting our ears. And while we’d love to see Crash Bandicoot or Spyro the Dragon appear on the roster, we aren’t holding out.

Some proactive datamining of Smash Bros Ultimate seems to have preempted the Joker announcement (under a file name ending ‘Jack’), while another file labelled ‘brave’ could arguably refer to Dragon Quest 3 hero Erdick, given the Japanese name for the hero would translate as ‘brave man’. You can read the whole conspiracy theory over at GamesRadar.

There are also reports of the shotgun-wielding demon-slayer from Doom featuring in the list – and given Bethesda’s increasing library of ports to the Nintendo Switch, we think this one actually seems pretty likely. Perhaps a joint Xbox / Nintendo announcement at E3 2019, to show off more of Doom Eternal alongside a Smash Bros rendering of Doomguy?

It’s worth mentioning that the confirmed DLC listed above is only the road-map for 2019, or possibly briefly into 2020 new year. Nintendo are unlikely to let new content dry up entirely, so we could be seeing a steady drip of new fighters – or other game modes and customization options – coming in the long term.

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