n the wake of Nintendo being Nintendo and unceremoniously canceling the Smash World Tour, one of the year’s biggest esports tournaments dedicated to all things Super Smash Bros., copious folks in the game’s community have come out in protest. Casual fans, pro players, long-time commentators, and even other tournament organizers, from AITX eSports to Beyond the Summit, have all publicly denounced not just Nintendo for its asinine decision but also Panda Global for allegedly causing the Smash World Tour to get shut down. Now, it appears many of those people are boycotting all of Nintendo’s officially licensed tournaments as well.
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Super Smash Bros. fans aren’t happy about what’s going on, with many posting their frustrations on Twitter. Some pointed fingers at Panda Global CEO and co-founder Dr. Alan Bunney for allegedly trying to recruit tournaments to the Panda Cup by threatening to get Nintendo involved to shut the Smash World Tour down and reportedly attempting to create a monopoly by requesting exclusive streaming rights to the Panda Cup. Others fear this may hurt their careers and livelihoods. The main consensus is to never watch, support, or attend a Panda Global event ever again. A lot of people seem to feel this way.
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The future of Super Smash Bros.’s competitive fighting game scene is looking quite precarious, with Video Game Boot Camp admitting in the statement that it’s “currently navigating budget cuts, internal communications with our team and partners, commitments/contracts, as well as sponsorship negotiations that will inevitably be affected by all of this.” It’s possible that smaller tournaments will continue without Nintendo’s blessing, but, as has been done time and again, it’s likely only a matter of time until Nintendo comes a-knocking.
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Source: Smash Bros. Fans Are Totally Done With Nintendo And Tournaments
The article says that Smash Bros tournaments were cancelled due to Nintendo not sponsoring them, but the tournaments were cancelled due to Nintendo throwing cease and desist letters at the organisers. Also see: Nintendo Shuts Down Smash World Tour – worlds largest e-sports tournament – out of the blue
Robin Edgar
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