Warner Bros is making its own 'Smash Bros.', pro Smasher claims

What if every IP-grubbing corporate conglomerate decided to crank out its own cut-rate Super Smash Bros. for some easy cash? Well, move over Space Jam, because hat's the hell-future we may be facing according to pro Smash player and streamer HungryBox, who posted a grainy image of what he claims is the character select screen for a Warner Bros.-themed fighting game that exists in some form or fashion.

As we repeatedly state here at Input, video game rumors tend to run hot and heavy around this time of year, and it's impossible to know if this one has any truth behind it. That said, while it might be a fake, the character select screen certainly looks like something you'd see in a WB-themed fighting game.

Salty bet — HungryBox also posted a video to YouTube where he further discussed the purported "roster leak," but the video was quickly removed by Warner Bros. due to a purported copyright violation. In a follow-up tweet, HungryBox claimed that this removal "confirmed" that the project was legit. While you might choose to take it that way, large corporations like Warner Bros. and Nintendo issue video takedowns for fan works all the time, so it's still open to interpretation.

If you aren't familiar with the fast-paced and exciting world of competitive Smash, HungryBox is a longtime Smash player who is well-known for maining Jigglypuff in Melee. (He also once had a crab thrown at him by an angry player at a Smash tournament.) He is widely considered one of the best Melee players ever, as well as one of the top Smash streamers overall.

Deplatformed fighters — If you're not in the fighting game community (or FGC), you'd be forgiven for thinking that the various entries in Smash Bros. series are the only games of their type out there, but that's not the case. Over the years, other contenders in the "platform fighter" genre have emerged to varying levels of success, with Rivals of Aether and Brawlhalla coming in as the two best-known examples.

Recently, however, the semi-popularity of Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl has shown that there's still quite an audience for these platform fighters, especially when they're tied to an intellectual property that triggers a nostalgic drip for a critical mass of cooped-up millennials. Laugh if you want, but the idea of a Warner Bros.-themed fighting game is far from a joke these days; and while it's still definitely far from confirmed, we wouldn't be surprised to find it on store shelves in a dozen or so months.