Nintendo Issues Full Statement Over Smash World Tour Cancellation - IGN

Days aft quality that Smash World Tour [SWT] would beryllium canceling its last 2022 title and 2023 tour, Nintendo has offered a lengthy connection implicit the determination to not connection SWT a licence to big Smash Bros. events.

In a connection to IGN, Nintendo said that its "decision was solely based connected our appraisal of the proposals submitted by the SWT and our valuation of their unlicensed activities.” Nintendo added that “Any spouse that we assistance a licence to has to conscionable the precocious standards we necessitate erstwhile it comes to the wellness and information of our fans.”

“It’s besides important that a spouse adheres to marque and IP guidelines and conducts itself according to nonrecreational and organizational champion practices,” Nintendo writes. “We usage this aforesaid attack to independently measure each partners. If we observe that a spouse is doing thing inappropriate, we volition enactment to close it.”

Earlier this week, organizers of the Smash World Tour, 1 of the largest third-party Super Smash Bros. warring crippled tournaments, announced that it volition cancel its last lawsuit of the twelvemonth arsenic good arsenic its 2023 events aft Nintendo declined to contented them a licence to transportation connected Smash Bros. warring tourney events.

The organizers of SWT published a lengthy Medium station regretting the events, claiming that “without immoderate warning” it was told it could nary longer operate. Organizers besides revealed that it was successful negotiations with Nintendo to person a licence to run Smash Bros. tournaments and that Nintendo adjacent noted however SWT did not infringe connected their IP.

However, this constituent is seemingly disputed by Nintendo’s connection which implies immoderate spouse indispensable adhere to “brand and IP guidelines” acceptable by the company.

Nintendo besides reiterated that it “verbally” fto the organizers of SWT cognize that it was not asking to cancel the 2022 finals “because of the interaction it would person connected players,” and saying that “the determination to cancel the SWT 2022 was, and inactive is, their ain choice.”

Organizers of SWT accidental that it volition connection afloat refunds to attendees of its now-canceled 2022 event.

The SWT organizers besides accused 1 of Nintendo’s Smash Bros. partners, Panda Global, the organizers of the Panda Cup Smash Bros. tournament, of sabotage claiming that its laminitis Alan Bunney was telling imaginable organizers that SWT would beryllium getting unopen down, thereby making immoderate imaginable SWT partners person second-thoughts of joining up with the Smash World Tour.

Nintendo says its determination “was not influenced by immoderate outer parties specified arsenic Panda Global,” and that the institution is “open to partnering with different organizations and volition proceed to connection licenses for large tournaments extracurricular of the Panda Cup.” While Panda Global volition stay a spouse with Nintendo connected Smash Bros. the institution says that it “look[s] guardant to receiving proposals from different groups for tourney licenses.”

You tin work Nintendo’s afloat connection below.

Matt T.M. Kim is IGN's News Editor. You tin scope him @lawoftd.