Smash Bros. Ultimate players crashed the Switch eShop trying to buy Sora

News
By published

Everything should be in working order now though

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
(Image credit: Nintendo)

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate's final DLC character, the fan-favorite Sora from the Kingdom Hearts series, caused the Switch eShop to crash temporarily while players rushed to add the brawler to their rosters. 

A convergence of Smash Bros. Ultimate players and Kingdom Hearts fans have been clamoring for Nintendo to add the Keyblade wielder to the fighting game for several years - Sora was the most popular choice in a 2015 poll from Nintendo asking players which character they most wanted in Smash Bros. It's perhaps no surprise then that on Monday, as Game Rant observed, when Sora finally became a Smash Bros. character, the Switch eShop experienced a massive surge in active shoppers and crashed several times throughout the day.

As if this isn't enough to validate Sora's ego, Twitter user Stealth points out that his arrival in Smash Bros. Ultimate is likely the reason for the title's sudden claim to a top 3 spot on the eShop's best-sellers. Some of the new sales could be from people who waited for every DLC fighter to arrive, but let's be real, it's mostly due to people just really, really wanting to whack people with a Keyblade.

Thankfully, at the time of writing, the eShop servers seem to be in normal working order, so anyone who wasn't able to push their way to checkout yesterday - like a desperate parent at the mall looking for Pokemon cards on Christmas Eve - should be able to purchase and play as Sora without a hiccup.

Here's how Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and its director Masahiro Sakurai redefined hype.

Jordan Gerblick
Jordan Gerblick

After earning an English degree from ASU, I worked as a corporate copy editor while freelancing for places like SFX Magazine, Screen Rant, Game Revolution, and MMORPG on the side. I got my big break here in 2019 with a freelance news gig, and I was hired on as GamesRadar's west coast Staff Writer in 2021. That means I'm responsible for managing the site's western regional executive branch, AKA my home office, and writing about whatever horror game I'm too afraid to finish.