Nintendo shuts down Smash Bros tournament

Nintendo has reportedly shut down a major Super Smash Bros. tournament that was planned to take place in 2023, despite prior promises it wouldn’t

A planned global Super Smash Bros. event has had to cancel all of its events for 2023, after its organisers reportedly received notice from Nintendo that it could no longer operate.

The organisers behind Smash World Tour (SWT), an event circuit for Super Smash Bros. that was established in 2021, have said that they have to cancel both their upcoming 2022 championship event, and the 2023 Smash World Tour circuit. According to a statement released by organisers, Nintendo of America sent notice telling them they could no longer operate Smash events.

The lengthy statement released by Smash World Tour goes into great depth about the group’s involvement and communications with Nintendo over the last twelve months. It says that the gaming giant first contacted them in November last year, after the Panda Cup was first announced, and assured them that the deal with Panda to host official Smash tournaments wouldn’t impact SWT’s ability to hold their own.

SWT goes on to say that Nintendo asked them to make a submission for official licensing, and that because SWT didn’t use modified games or hardware in its events, it was unlikely that Nintendo would shut down their events. Unfortunately, after that, SWT reportedly found that tournament organisers were hesitant to join up to the circuit for 2022.

The Super Smash Bros. series has been running since 1999, when the first Super Smash Bros. game released on the Nintendo 64. Picture: Nintendo

SWT claims that tournament organisers were told by Panda CEO Alan Bunney that SWT was likely to get shut down, and that they were not coming back in 2022, despite SWT having had promising conversations with Nintendo prior. Nintendo reportedly assured the group that Panda does not speak on behalf of Nintendo, and that the company did not intend to gatekeep the pro Smash scene.

Fast forwarding a few months, SWT says that their communications with Nintendo slowed, and that they were finding it difficult to organise their upcoming 2022 championship event without approval. Ultimately, they decided to push ahead with the announcement, and eventually were told by Nintendo that it had not yet made a decision on official licensing.

Now, SWT says, that’s all changed, as the group reportedly received word from Nintendo on November 23rd that they would not be able to operate without a commercial license. The company also reportedly said that such a license would not be granted for the upcoming championship event, or any event to take place in 2023.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate released in 2018, and prominently featured every single character in the series’ history as part of its roster. Picture: Nintendo

SWT ended its statement by saying that they didn’t intend for this to be an exposé on Nintendo, nor did they want to burn bridges. Instead, they hoped that the statement would gain attention and encourage Nintendo to rethink its approach to grassroots competitive gaming events.

Nintendo of America has come under fire recently over its alleged anti-worker practices. A fired Nintendo worker came forward and accused the company of union-busting, in a case that’s currently being investigated by the US National Labor Relations Board.

Nintendo of America QA testers have also claimed they suffered years of abuse, according to a report in which many female contractors talked about their experiences at the company.

Written by Oliver Brandt on behalf of GLHF.