Banjo and Kazooie also appear as a single playable fighter via downloadable content in the 2018 crossover fighting game, "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate". Phil Spencer, head of the Xbox brand, stated that negotiating the characters' inclusion was an "easy deal to make" due to their strong third-party relationship with Nintendo. The characters were released on 4 September 2019, along with a stage based on Spiral Mountain and "Banjo-Kazooie" musical arrangements, including one by original composer Grant Kirkhope. "Diddy Kong Racing" artist, Paul Cunningham was responsible for Banjo and Kazooie’s design in Smash Bros. Ultimate. Rare studio head Craig Duncan explained that how it worked with Nintendo's "Smash Bros." DLC by saying that he met with Nintendo at E3 2019 before announcing it, then they connected their teams because they thought it seemed like a great opportunity. During the Games Industry's interview of Rare’s Craig Duncan, Duncan shared that "Minecraft had paved the way for that relationship between Nintendo and Microsoft". In which Minecraft ultimately helped Banjo and Kazooie in "Smash Bros." Masahiro Sakurai has explained that the addition of Banjo and Kazooie as a playable fighter in "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate" happened "quite easily", despite the ownership of Microsoft.