Nintendo might be stereotyped as constantly relying on Mario and Zelda games to headline their games consoles, but the last few years have shown them to also experiment with new genres and styles of gaming. Splatoon was their first new IP in quite some time, and ARMS carried their ingenuity and flair across to the fighting game genre once more.
It might have sold the fewest of Nintendo’s first party exclusives, but it was still a million selling hit and a strong start for a new IP. It’s a bit of a shame, then, that the active support and development of the title has come to an end, with Nintendo’s Kosuke Yabuki, ARMS’ game director, confirming to Eurogamer that no more free content is planned.
Yabuki-san said, “After its launch on 16th June, we released several significant free content updates for ARMS, including five new characters, 12 new ARMS, five new stages, collectible badges, and new modes like Party Crash. More Party Crash events are on the way, and we’ll continue to make balance adjustments and other small changes to improve the gaming experience, but we currently have no plans for bigger updates.”
“There are also a few things I’d like to highlight personally. With the director of the ARMS Laboratory, Dr. Coyle, joining the ARMS Grand Prix, all the ARMS fighters have finally got together! Because of our commitment to ongoing updates since launch, we feel we’ve reached a point where the strengths and weaknesses of fighters are generally balanced, making for some really exciting battles.
“We will definitely continue to make balance adjustments, as well as run more Party Crash events. Everyone on the development team hopes that players over the world can enjoy ARMS for many years!”
Here’s hoping for more ARMS in the future, and plenty more experiments of its ilk from Nintendo as well.
Source: Eurogamer
