Smash Fans Were Convinced Kirby And The World Beyond Was A Fakeout

Nintendo Fans Thought New Kirby Was Smash, And Some Are Still Convinced Published Sep 12, 2026, 10:55 AM EDT George is the Lead News Editor for TheGamer, and has been working in the industry since 2021 after graduating from the University of South Wales with a bachelor's degree in Journalism. He has also previously written for RPG Site, WhatCulture, and PlayStation Lifestyle. George is an expert on platformers, action games, and fighters, but tends to play as many releases as possible. This hands-on experience lets him dive into gaming communities and follow the latest trends. Some of the games George has extensively covered first-hand include Dead Rising, Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero, Assassin's Creed Shadows, and Ninja Gaiden 4. Sign in to your TheGamer account Super Smash Bros. fans are so hungry for a new game that a lot of people were convinced Kirby and the World Beyond’s trailer was actually just a fakeout for Smash's return. Earlier this week, Nintendo blessed us all with an absolute doozy of a Nintendo Direct that had tons of exciting reveals. As great as Metroid Ravenous looks, though, the biggest announcement of them all was for Kirby and the World Beyond, the long-awaited next 3D game after 2022’s brilliant The Forgotten Land. While ending the Direct with an open-world Kirby was an absolute win in my books, it’s fair to say all of the recent rumours of a new Super Smash Bros. had a lot of people hoping for that as the closer. With Kirby being such a big part of Smash’s identity, some were even convinced that The World Beyond actually was leading into a new Smash reveal. Smash Fans Thought The New Kirby Was Leading Into Smash 6 One Fan Is Even Coping By Theorising The World Beyond “Doesn’t Exist” Since the Nintendo Direct aired, fan reactions have been making the rounds on Twitter and, while some of them are just excited for a new Kirby, many of them show that a lot of people thought a new Smash was coming. The confusion mostly seems to stem from the final shots of the trailer, which feature Kirby using his Sword Copy Ability. Not to brag, but I knew it was Kirby from the second shot of the trailer, which had some unmistakable pink puffball vibes. It looks like a decent number of Nintendo fans don’t know that Sword is one of Kirby’s main abilities, and that it isn’t just him cosplaying Link, although it has always been a reference to Zelda. That look, combined with Kirby dramatically breaking open a wall into a new world and looking out into a grand horizon, is what led many to think a Smash trailer was about to happen. While I do get that Smash hopes are at an all-time high and we’re waiting for some kind of wild reveal, it does baffle me a little that some saw a bunch of gameplay footage from a big new Kirby game and still thought it was just a lead-up to Smash. In fact, some are still convinced that The World Beyond is just a prop for Sakurai’s bigger series. Twitter user The76thIcePop shared their “cope theory” that The World Beyond doesn’t “exist at all” and that Kirby breaking free was actually a showcase for the next Smash’s single-player mode. The theory suggests each character will have their own breakout segment, and that The World Beyond is just a ploy to tease Smash. Just ignore Kirby and the World Beyond’s official Nintendo Store page… I won’t pick apart this theory too much since the comments are already doing it, and it’s a bit of harmless speculating at the end of the day, but it really does go to show how desperate Smash fans are to see a new game. It’s just a shame it’s dragging down what I’d say is honestly just as exciting.