 The recent Nintendo E3 presentation started strong, revealing that Kazuya of Tekken fame will be the latest character to be added to the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Fighter's Pass Vol. 2 DLC. Why did Kazuya make the cut? The short answer is because Nintendo and Bandai Namco have a good working relationship, making this partnership relatively easy. It's important to remember though that relationships between companies are based on relationships between individuals. This particular collaboration was helped significantly by the fact that Smash Bros. Overseer Masahiro Sakurai and Tekken 7 director Katsuhiro Horada are such close friends in real life. In fact, leaving aside both Kazuya and Tekken inspired me fighter costumes, Horada has been helping Sakurai with Smash Bros. development behind the scenes for quite some time. It's no secret that Smash Bros. doesn't always have the smoothest online experience. According to Horada, Sakurai has been picking his brain for quite some time, asking how Bandai Namco has created such a streamlined stable online connection for their Tekken games. Horada has been more than happy to help. He said, I spoke recently with Mr Sakurai who worked on Super Smash Bros. and he showed keen interest in our conversations about online features. He even asked me whether he could use what I said about the ratio of wired and wireless players. Thus, you have Horada's relationship with Sakurai to thank for the improvements to Smash's online service that have been slowly dribbling out. Neither party makes a secret of their close friendship, as they'll often take to Twitter to chat with each other. In March of this year, Sakurai took to Twitter to celebrate the 26th anniversary of the release of the original Tekken on PlayStation. He said, You shouldn't throw your son off a cliff. Of course, you shouldn't throw your parent off a cliff either. It's very likely that Sakurai and his team were already working on Kazuya's Smash reveal video by this point, which features a reference to this particular part of Tekken lore. Horada responded to this tweet, simply saying, I recommend throwing them into a volcano. Sakurai then responded again, with a Smash Bros. screenshot showing off this exact scenario. It was a cute joke to share with the world when both developers were already well aware that this would soon be recreated with Kazuya. If there's one thing that didn't help Kazuya make it into the Smash roster, it's the endless barrage of fan requests that Sakurai has sent on a daily basis on Twitter. Horada has made it very clear that he has absolutely no patience for people who harass his friend online, and in fact, has publicly stated on Twitter that he'll do everything in his power to prevent annoying fan requests from ever being granted. In response to Twitter campaigns to get characters including Crash Bandicoot, Sora, and Master Chief into Smash, Horada said, You guys are spammers. I will talk with Mr Sakurai and Bandai Namco's Smash Development team so that your request will not be approved as much as possible. If you are still relentlessly spamming, that just means hampering the work of Sakurai and Bandai Namco's Smash Development team. Just one tweet is enough for request. Do not spam us. Developers don't negotiate with spammer and terrorists. It's heartwarming to see a developer sticking up for his friend on social media, trying to protect him from online harassment and annoying unwanted tweets. While higher ups at Nintendo make an initial short list for Smash DLC characters, it's up to Sakurai himself to decide whether any potential characters can actually be implemented into the game. No doubt this particular partnership was a lot easier than others, because Sakurai and Horada are already so eager to talk shop, share ideas, and even stand up for one another when things get tough. The moral of the story, support your friends. The friendship between Katsuhiro Horada and Masahiro Sakurai is an excellent example of what can be achieved when two people are willing to help each other.