‘Smash’ Competitive Leagues Freak Out Over Latest Nintendo Edicts (original) (raw)

from the nintendon't dept

For nearly a decade now, we’ve discussed Nintendo’s oddly combative relationship with the eSports community, specifically as it revolves around Super Smash Bros. tournaments. Whereas other game publishers have fully embraced these tournaments and the attention they bring to their games, Nintendo does what Nintendo always does instead: exert more and more control, pissing everyone off over disputes about the most inconsequential and minute details. Sometimes this revolves around demands for licensing to put on tournaments and sometimes it’s over the use of mods in those tournaments. In every case, it sure looks like the chopping off of Nintendo’s nose to spite its face.

But this latest iteration of Nintendo’s attempts to exert an insane level of control over these third parties has a huge swath of the competitive Smash Bros. community absolutely freaking out.

Posted on October 24 on Nintendo’s UK, Japan, and North America websites, the rules set strict limits on all “community” tournaments. According to the new guidelines, in addition to being nonprofit events, Smash tournaments would also be limited to 200 participants, unable to set prizes above $5,000, unable to have sponsors, and forbidden from using modified versions of Nintendo games, like the popular “Project M” hack of Super Smash Bros. Melee. Tournament organizers wouldn’t even be allowed to sell food, beverages, or merchandise.

While the guidelines don’t ban all commercial tournaments outright, they do require the companies behind those events to get special licenses directly from Nintendo. However, the company states that it’s “up to Nintendo’s sole discretion whether or not a licensee will be granted to a corporation or organization.” Given Nintendo’s track-record, many fans are worried this will lead some of these restrictions to trickle down to bigger esports events, or make holding a Smash Bros. tournament too much of a headache to even bother with in the first place.

In what world it makes sense for Nintendo to dictate at least some of the above is entirely beyond me. The food and drinks thing is flatly obnoxious. I’m at least a little surprised that Nintendo doesn’t have a requirement for the precise color of the urinal cakes in the bathrooms.

But this is what the company does. Given the choice, Nintendo will always choose to exert the maximum amount of control over having a vibrant community of fans and others that would actually lead to more interest in its games. And, as commenters have often pointed out in posts about Nintendo, it’s survived doing all of this thus far because enough people still buy enough Nintendo products that the company never learns a lesson. And while that may happen yet again, it’s worth noting that the competitive Smash community is fully fired up over these latest dictates.

“Ah yes, it is that time of the year where Nintendo remembers to ruin the day of every Smash player,” tweeted Samuel “Dabuz” Buzby, one of the top-ranked players in the world. “Fuck Nintendo, they are like a 5 year old screaming for attention at all times when it comes to competitive Smash,” tweeted Adam “Armada” Lindgren, long considered one of the “five gods” of Smash Bros. Melee.

Juan “Hungrybox” DeBiedma, one of the other “five gods,” threatened to continue running his own tournaments until Nintendo’s lawyers reached out to him in person. “I’m running Coinbox,” he said during a recent livestream. “I’m gonna keep running it in January, I’m gonna keep running it in February, March, and April, I will run it every fucking week until I receive word from them directly. I’m not going to stop out of fear. They have to come to me directly with the document. Until then I’m calling their fucking bluff.”

Now, keep in mind with all of this that Nintendo also announced in 2022 that it was partnering with a company called Panda Global to be the officially licensed partner for Smash tournaments. That came out as part of the whole licensing chaos in that same year, with tournaments suddenly getting shut down after Nintendo said they weren’t licensed to operate. There was a backlash against Panda Global and Nintendo as a result, which led to the abandonment of the Panda Global league in its infancy, but, well, it appears the new guidelines might once again be due to that rekindled partnership.

The company was supposed to have its own Smash Bros. league organized by Panda Global. However, following a drama-filled cancellation of Video Game Boot Camp’s Smash World Tour event in 2022, many accused Nintendo and Panda Global of colluding to squash competing tournaments. An ensuing boycott of Panda’s league eventually led it to disband at the start of 2023. After Nintendo announced its new tournament guidelines today, someone allegedly leaked a Panda Global pitch deck for its Smash Bros. league, and it appeared to point toward a generous collaboration between Panda Global and Nintendo—the type of competitive circuit pros have long asked for, with sizable payments to host organizers to help with costs.

Again, control, control, control. Rather than letting a vibrant, self-emerging ecosystem of fans and players spring up all over the place in tournaments far and wide, all of which serves to generate more interest in Nintendo’s games, the company instead demands control. Tournaments will happen chiefly with its preferred partner and, outside of that, only under ridiculous restrictions that basically make hosting a tournament simply not worth the trouble.

Nintendo hates you. Or, at the very least, they don’t give a shit about you.

Filed Under: competitions, esports, fans, super smash bros., video games
Companies: nintendo