Smash Bros. Players Encounter Piranha Plant Redemption Problems, Corrupt Save Files

By Jessie Wade

With the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate 2.0.0 update that came Tuesday evening, some players are experiencing difficulty when trying to redeem the long-awaited Piranha Plant to add to their roster.

Players are having trouble with both redeeming the code from Nintendo or just finding it in their email, along with having Piranha Plant wipe out their save files entirely after they used it in the game’s All-Star Mode.

Nintendo support posted an entire FAQ on how to troubleshoot unlocking Piranha Plant without having to call in, as their call volume is so high that people are reporting error messages.

IGN’s Wiki also has an in-depth guide on how to unlock Piranha Plant for free.

Steps to Getting Piranha Plant

To make sure you have what you need to obtain Piranha Plant, you have to purchase a copy of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate either digitally or a physical copy before Thursday, Jan. 31 at 11:59 PM PST. If you bought a physical copy, you must claim the gold coins for your purchase to then receive an email to unlock the new character.

If you cannot find the email, search for a Nintendo email titled, “Thanks for your purchase of the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate game,” which looks simply like a “Thank You” receipt from Nintendo for purchasing the game. The code will take three days to arrive in your inbox.

If you did receive the code and you entered it into the game, yet still do not see it in your roster, force the game to update or do a system reset.

As long as you have the code, Piranha Plant will be available to redeem until June 30, 2019. If you have not taken the steps to get the code before Jan. 31, you will not be able to get it for free. However, Nintendo will be releasing it for $5.99 USD at a later date.

All-Star Mode Save Corruption

Reported by @SSBUNews on Twitter, some players who brought Piranha Plant into the All-Star Mode had their save files corrupted.

A thread on Reddit detailed that if you pay for cloud backup on Nintendo’s server, you can easily restore the data that was lost. However, there seems to be no consistency with the corruption, as some players have had no issues and some have lost all of their saved data.

Century Smash, Duck Hunt and Mii Swordfighter are also reportedly corrupting the save files for some users, according to the Reddit community.

IGN has reached out to Nintendo for comment and further recommendations on these issues and will update this article with any relevant information.

In the meantime, find out everything you need to know to successfully smash others in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate in IGN’s wiki guide and who the best Smash Bros. characters are according to the pros.

Jessie Wade is a news writer for IGN and has yet to play Super Smash Bros. Ultimate with Piranha Plant. Chat with her on Twitter @jessieannwade.