Days after news broke of the Smash World Tour [SWT] It will cancel the 2022 Final Tournament and 2023 Tour, and Nintendo has provided a lengthy statement regarding the decision not to offer a SWT license to host Smash Bros. Ultimate events.
In a statement to IGN, Nintendo said its decision was “based solely on our evaluation of proposals from SWT and our evaluation of its unauthorized activities.” Nintendo added that “any partner we license must meet our high standards when it comes to the health and safety of our fans.”
“It is also important that the Partner adhere to brand and intellectual property guidelines and act in accordance with professional and organizational best practices,” Nintendo wrote. “We use the same approach to assess all partners independently. If we discover that one partner is doing something inappropriate, we will work to correct it.”
The upcoming Smash World Tour and the entirety of the 2023 Smash World Tour must be cancelled.
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SmashWorld Tour 2022 November 29, 2022
Earlier this week, the organizers of the Smash World Tour, one of the biggest Super Smash Bros. announced, that it would be canceling its final event of the year as well as the 2023 events after Nintendo refused to release it. A license to continue the Smash Bros. Fighting Championship events.
SWT organizers posted a lengthy Medium post expressing their regret over the events, claiming that “without any warning” they were told he could no longer work. The organizers also revealed that it was in negotiations with Nintendo for a license to run Smash Bros. tournaments. And that Nintendo even noticed how SWT didn’t violate their IP.
However, this point appears to be disputed by Nintendo’s statement that any partner must adhere to the “brand and intellectual property guidelines” set by the company.
Nintendo also reiterated that it had “verbally” let SWT organizers know that it had not asked to cancel the 2022 Finals “due to the impact on players,” saying that “the decision to cancel SWT 2022 was, and still is, their own choice.”
SWT organizers say they will be offering full refunds to attendees at the now-canceled 2022 event.
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SWT organizers also accused one of Nintendo’s Smash Bros. partners. Panda Global, organizers of the Panda Cup Smash Bros. Championship. , vandalized by claiming that its founder Alan Bunney was telling potential organizers that SWT would be shutting down, thus making any potential SWT partners have second thoughts of joining the Smash World Tour.
Nintendo says its decision was “not influenced by any outside parties such as Panda Global,” and that the company is “open to partnering with other organizations and will continue to offer licenses to major tournaments outside of Panda Cup.” While Panda Global will continue to partner with Nintendo on Smash Bros. Ultimate. The company says, “Look[s] Forward to receive proposals from other groups for tournament licenses. “
You can read Nintendo’s full statement below.
Matt TM Kim is IGN News Editor. You can access it @employee.
