Super Smash Bros. director Masahiro Sakurai says that 3DS and Wii U players won’t be able to face off in Nintendo’s upcoming brawler.

Sakurai told Joystiq that because of the differently laid out stages in the two versions, cross-platform play is impossible. However, you can take characters that you’ve customized (in some fashion, which he did not elaborate on) from the 3DS version and import them somehow to the Wii U.

Super Smash Bros. comes out next year on Wii U and 3DS. For more on the title, check out Sakurai’s own video preview of some of the new characters.