A patch hit Super Smash Bros. Ultimate on August 4, and we’re starting to learn about some of the small, under-the-hood changes that were made.
Smash Ultimate’s Latest Update
Podcaster PushDustin and games historian Robert Sephazon have published a rough translation of series director Masahiro Sakurai’s comments about the August 4 update in Smash (via Dexerto).
“A lot of attention was put into making the input delay when fighting [one-on-one] very low,” the translation explains. “However, as a side-effect, when there is a delay in communication, the match may drop. Some small adjustments to matchmaking and other optimizations are still being tweaked.”
Nintendo has kept a lot of specifics about this update secret, the game director says, because “they are largely client-side, and therefore there is a limit to such improvements.”
Much of the translation explains that changes in the availability of high-speed, high-quality internet has changed things considerably in recent years. This introduces new risks and challenges when balancing something like an online fighting game.
Sakura says he “will review and adapt accordingly.”
A common player request, Sephazon’s thread explains, is wanting to when an opponent is using Wi-Fi or not. “But it’s not possible,” Sakurai says, “to refuse a player based on their connection type.”
More updates are coming soon, Sakurai added.