Update [Fri 2nd Dec, 2022 11:30 GMT]: We learned earlier this week that the unofficial Smash Bros. and the upcoming tour would be canceled effective immediately after receiving a cease and desist notice from Nintendo.
This was expected to cost the tournament a huge amount of money in cancellation fees and seemed like something of a U-turn for the brand that had previously been running smoothly with Nintendo licensing.
Today, in a statement to IGN, Nintendo explained why it chose to revoke SWT’s license and end the event. While the statement focuses on “Nintendo’s assessment of [SWT’s] unauthorized activities”, also specifies that it was not a last minute decision, claiming to have previously informed the organizers of the withdrawal of the authorization.
Perhaps more importantly, however, the statement suggests Nintendo never called for the 2022 Championships to be shut down, citing “the impact it would have on gamers.” Therefore, according to the statement, “the decision to cancel SWT 2022 was, and still is, their own choice.”
These claims can be found in the following excerpt:
Nintendo’s decision was based solely on our assessment of the proposals submitted by the SWT and our assessment of their unlicensed activities. This decision was not influenced by any external party such as Panda Global. Any partner we license must meet the high standards we demand for the health and safety of our fans. It is also important that a partner adheres to brand and intellectual property guidelines and conducts itself in accordance with professional and organizational best practices. We use this same approach to independently assess all partners. If we discover that a partner is doing something inappropriate, we will work to correct it.
When we informed the SWT that we would not be allowing their 2022 or 2023 activities, we also verbally let them know that we did not require them to cancel the 2022 finals due to the impact it would have on the players. So, the decision to cancel SWT 2022 was, and still is, their own choice.
Nintendo’s statement can be read in full on IGN, detailing the company’s decision to continue working with the tournament’s official host, Panda Global, after SWT allegedly received threats from its CEO.
We’ll be sure to update you as any further statement is made.
original article [Wed 30th Nov, 2022 00:45 GMT]: The unofficial series of Super Smash Bros. “Smash World Tour” announced the cancellation of “the next two Smash World Championships” as well as the 2023 tour. This event is best known for having “the biggest prize pool in Smash history at over 250,000 $” and was expected to have a prize pool of “over $350,000” next year.
After seemingly positive discussions with Nintendo, Smash World Tour has reportedly been notified by the video game company that it can no longer “operate” future events without an official license. The event organizer goes on to say that he will lose “hundreds and thousands of dollars due to Nintendo’s actions” but is “ready to continue the conversation.”
“Without any warning, we were notified the day before Thanksgiving by Nintendo that we could no longer operate. This was particularly shocking given our conversation with Nintendo over the past twelve months. Since then, we have been working 24 hours on 24 to take appropriate logistical steps, as well as to prepare this statement with appropriate legal advice.”
“…last Wednesday evening (November 23rd) we had our final call with Nintendo. Our Nintendo representative began by letting us know that they were being asked to announce that in the future Nintendo expects to that we only operated with a commercial license, and that we would not get one for the next championships, or for any activity in 2023. We also received it in writing.
“…It felt like Nintendo just didn’t want the Smash World Tour to continue to exist. At this point, we now felt like we’d been chained this whole time.”
In the same statement, Smash World Tour detailed its history with Panda Global (the official organizer of the Smash tournament) and how the CEO of Panda (which was “being evaluated” by Nintendo) would have told other organizers that SWT was “shuting down” while threatening them. same events with stoppages if they don’t “join the Panda Cup”.
You can read the lengthy statement from Smash World Tour in the link below:
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