In light of the recent reports regarding the cancelation of the Smash World Tour championship for 2022 as well as the 2023 tour, Nintendo has released an explanatory statement. The Smash World Tournament is a world-renowned competitive circuit for Nintendo's successful Super Smash Bros. franchise. The tournament started in 2020 and has since then been a platform for the best players in the world to showcase their skills.
A couple of days ago, the SWT in a statement revealed that it is being forced by Nintendo to cancel the 2022 world championship as well as all future events. SWT further added that it was blindsided by the news and was forced to scramble; it reached out to partners, competitors, and fans, but with no warning and no time to prepare, it may not be enough. This is a devastating loss for the Smash World Tour and for the competitive Smash community as a whole.
Now, Nintendo has released a statement that all of its partners are required to not only meet the health and safety guidelines of fans but also strictly follow the brand and IP guidelines set by the company. If Nintendo catches someone violating these guidelines, it has the right to correct them. Nintendo also clarified that it didn't ask SWT to cancel the 2022 world championship event; the decision was made by SWT itself.
Nintendo further added that its decision to cancel the SWT license was not in any way influenced by Panda Global. This is quite an interesting statement from Nintendo. SWT blamed Panda Global for sabotaging SWT's championship, which makes Nintendo's response all the more intriguing. Lastly, Nintendo mentioned that it is ready to partner with other organizations from all over the world. This is good news for any potential partners as it shows that Nintendo is interested in working together to provide the best gaming experience possible for fans.
Nintendo's statement was indeed quite long, but it failed to mention which specific company policies were violated by SWT. This is a bit concerning, as it's not clear what SWT did wrong; hopefully, Nintendo will release more information soon so that people can all understand what happened. Nintendo has always been protective of its intellectual property and has taken a hard line against tournament organizers in the past as well.
There's a long-standing divide between Nintendo and the competitive gaming community, and it doesn't seem like that's going to change anytime soon. The competitive gaming community is understandably upset, as this was one of the biggest tournaments of the year. This is a shame, as competitive gaming can be a great way to promote a game and build a community around it.
Source: IGN
