text: All Sakurai said that adding 3rd Party characters "willy-nilly" would cause the game to lose focus. All I would gauge from that is that they will only add one or two 3rd Party characters regardless of whether or not Snake and Sonic return (which for the record I believe they will).
  Its not that they won't add third-party characters so much as they're not going to add a ton of them. Some people at Nintendo have objected to them, but Sakurai has reflected well on them, saying that he liked Snake and Sonic's inclusion.I think we will see more third-party characters in Smash. Probably just one though, maybe two at best. (cross fingers for Mega Man)
  I think it's best having just a couple though. Keeps them feeling special.
  i think they will kick snake out because david hayter is not voicing him anymore :(