Minecraft characters joining Super Smash Bros. Ultimate have been “at least" five years in the making

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Talks between Mojang and Nintendo started longer ago than you might think

(Image credit: Nintendo)

A former Mojang employee and Minecraft developer has revealed that talks first started about Minecraft collaborating with Super Smash Bros. at least five years ago.

Daniel Kaplan, former production director of Minecraft at Mojang, took to Twitter yesterday shortly after Steve and Alex from Minecraft were revealed to be joining Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. With some playing a guessing game on Twitter as to when discussions started about the collaboration, Kaplan revealed that the answer was "at least five" years ago.

The announcement of Steve, Alex, Zombie and Enderman all joining Super Smash Bros. Ultimate yesterday certainly caught the internet off guard. So much so, that Twitter experienced outages around the world, which I'm sure was just coincidental.

Smash Bros. director Masahiro Sakurai revealed the inclusions of the Minecraft characters in a short presentation from his home (where Super Smash Bros. Ultimate development has been taking place since the COVID-19 pandemic started). Sakurai was keen to remind everyone that it wasn't just him who decided on the characters joining Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, and that it was Nintendo who gave him the monumental task of adding Steve and Alex to Smash Ultimate.

Tomorrow on October 3, Sakurai will give an extended presentation on Steve and Alex, where it's expected he'll reveal the release date of the two new fighters. Sakurai should also be demoing Steve and Alex's movesets in detail, as the director has done for past characters like Arms's Min Min.

For our complete breakdown of the best characters in Smash Ultimate, you can check out our full Super Smash Bros. Ultimate tier list.

Hirun Cryer
Hirun Cryer
Freelance Writer

Hirun Cryer is a freelance reporter and writer with Gamesradar+ based out of U.K. After earning a degree in American History specializing in journalism, cinema, literature, and history, he stepped into the games writing world, with a focus on shooters, indie games, and RPGs, and has since been the recipient of the MCV 30 Under 30 award for 2021. In his spare time he freelances with other outlets around the industry, practices Japanese, and enjoys contemporary manga and anime.