Minecraft Smash Bros. talks began "at least five" years ago
Block out some time.
Yesterday's news Minecraft characters will join Nintendo's Super Smash Bros. was an announcement more than five years in the making.
Talks to get Minecraft's Steve and Alex in Smash began "at least five" years ago, according to Mojang's former production designer Daniel Kaplan.
"Guess when these discussions started?" Kaplan, now at Goat Simulator developer Coffee Stain Studios, wrote on Twitter last night. "Any taker?"
"Three is not enough," he later added. "At least five." Kaplan's response to video games analyst Daniel Ahmad - a guess of 2014 - appeared to indicate that was the correct answer.
A late 2014 timeframe would place early discussions around the release time of Super Smash Bros. for 3DS/Wii U, which also had DLC fighters.
Smash Bros. series boss Masahiro Sakurai has not commented on when talks began, but yesterday suggested work on the elaborate DLC had been ongoing for sometime.
"Someone from Nintendo will come to my workplace and say, 'Mr. Sakurai, surely you can put Minecraft in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate?' while peering at me over their glasses.
"They make it sound easy. I guess they think this all happens by magic or something. Don't they know what kind of game Minecraft is? The wizardry required to make it work in this game... It's impossible!"
Details on when Minecraft's characters will arrive in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, alongside a full explanation of their abilities, will be revealed tomorrow in a 45 minute presentation by Smash series boss Masahiro Sakurai. Look for it on YouTube at 3pm UK time.
