Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl has been out for less than a day, and players already think they may have found clues about which additional characters will be joining the platform fighting game in the future. According to an apparent datamine leak, the game’s files include references to Shredder, Garfield, and other Nick characters who could be arriving soon.
The leak was originally posted on 4Chan but has since made its way to the gaming forum ResetEra and the All-Star Brawl subreddit. While the discovered files don’t spell out exactly who else will be joining the game, they do offer plenty of clues. One file references a Garfield stage, and includes a placeholder image for the lasagna-guzzling feline. Another includes artwork for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ Shredder, who appears to have been given the code name “cheese” as a play on words.
Then there’s a long list of placeholder announcer lines for a wide range of other Nick characters. Those include Rugrats’ Tommy Pickles and SpongeBob’s Mr. Krabs, Squidward, and Plankton. Jimmy Neutron and the titular wallaby from Rocko’s Modern Life are also in the mix. While this has sparked a new wave of fan speculation around who will round out All-Star Brawl’s final roster beyond the base game, it’s important to remember that none of these names are confirmed or a sure thing.
In fact, it’s not uncommon for games like this to include lots of placeholder references in preparation for plans that haven’t been finalized, or might later be changed. The game’s community manager, Thaddeus Crews, addressed some of the questions around leaks ahead of time over on the game’s Discord.
“Brought up concerns of datamining & was told content would be removed,” Crews wrote earlier today. “It wasn’t removed.” At the same time, he said, “voice lines in the project cover bases and are not be-all-end-all confirmations of what can and cannot happen.”
Crews also confirmed that not everything planned for the base game was able to be ready by launch, and that content hinted at in potential datamining leaks was most likely planned for the base game, as follow-up DLC has yet to be worked on at all. But it still seems a fair bet for what could be coming up.
Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl is currently out on PS 4, PS5, Xbox One, Series X/S, PC, and Nintendo Switch.
Correction, 10/5/21, 12:20 p.m. ET: Rocko is not a dog, but in fact a wallaby. The more you know.