The Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack is receiving DLC from older games, which means that the fighters and costumes from Super Smash Bros. Ultimate could also be added in the future. Nintendo Switch Online’s Expansion Pack is a premium tier that adds N64 and Sega Genesis games, as well as granting access to DLC for first-party Nintendo games. If the player stops paying for the Expansion Pack, then they lose access to the DLC content and the retro games.
When the Expansion Pack was announced, the only free DLC available was for Animal Crossing: New Horizons, which was still a big deal, considering it’s the second best-selling game on the Nintendo Switch. Things got really interesting when the best-selling Nintendo Switch game had its DLC added to the Expansion Pack, as the new tracks for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe are part of the service. The Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Booster Pack is adding 48 tracks to the game, across waves of content that are still being released as of the time of writing.
The DLC available as part of the Expansion Pack has all been brand new content. That has now officially changed, as the Nintendo of America Twitter account has announced that the Octo Expansion for Splatoon 2 is now part of the Expansion Pack. This could open the floodgates for DLC from older Nintendo Switch games, such as Expansion Pass for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild or Torna: The Golden Country for Xenoblade Chronicles 2. There’s another Nintendo Switch with a lot of DLC that could also see its content coming to the Expansion Pack.
First-Party Nintendo Characters Could Be Expansion Pack DLC For Smash Ultimate
All of the DLC for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is now available to purchase, with Sora being the last Smash DLC fighter. The problem with adding all of the DLC for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate to the Expansion Pack is that a lot of the characters are owned by third-party developers. The actual business structure of these deals is unclear, but it’s likely that the license holders get money whenever people buy a Fighters Pass or their individual characters. Giving these characters away as freebies to Expansion Pack subscribers would likely go against this deal, which could exclude Joker (Atlus/Sega), Kazuya (Bandai Namco), Banjo-Kazooie and Steve (Microsoft), Terry (SNK), Sora (Disney), and Hero and Sephiroth (Square Enix).
There are Super Smash Bros. Ultimate characters that do belong to Nintendo and could be given away as part of the Expansion Pack. Smash Ultimate already gave Piranha Plant for free to early adopters of the game, so it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch for it to become part of the Expansion Pack. There is also Min Min from Arms, Byleth from Fire Emblem: Three Houses, and Pyra/Mythra from Xenoblade Chronicles 2. There are also some first-party costumes for the Mii Fighters that could be bundled in. These could make up an Expansion Pack Fighters Pass, which might attract subscribers to try out Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, as they would some additional characters and costumes off the bat.
