This is the end

Hot off the heels of the release of Version 5.0, Nintendo has announced some very unfortunate news in regards to ARMS. While balance updates will still happen, there will be no more content for the game. It's unclear how long the balance patches will continue afterwards.

It just seems way too soon to drop support.

For reference, let's go over what was added to the game since launch: five different characters, four of which came with three new Arms each, plus five stages, in a game where stage design absolutely matters. In addition, a new mode in the form of Hedlok Scramble was implemented, replays were added, and Splatfest-esque events appeared in the form of Party Crash. Finally, badges were added to the game, which greatly helped reduce the grind.

It just seems like such a strange time to end support though. The game isn't even a year old, and it still has to make a showing at EVO Japan. The momentum for the game felt like it would last until then, so to see it end now is rather depressing. It'll be interesting to see if the Party Crash events can help retain players, or if it will suffer a hard drop off without new content to look forward to.

That being said, if there is no more content coming, that means the team is likely working on another project. Hopefully it's a new IP along the lines of Splatoon and ARMS, as clearly they have the touch for it.

Nintendo: No more content updates for ARMS [ResetEra]