The Smash World Tour Finals were scheduled to begin on December 9 in San Antonio, Texas. Still, organizers have now been contacted...

Smash World Tour Forced to Cancel, Nintendo and Panda Global Blamed

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The Smash World Tour tournament series finally returned to LAN action in 2022. But this time, Nintendo was forced to cancel the event weeks before the finals.

The Smash World Tour Finals were scheduled to begin on December 9 in San Antonio, Texas. Still, organizers have now been contacted by Nintendo and informed that the event could not proceed as expected.

A statement from the tournament organizers reads. Nintendo expects us to work under a commercial license and will not grant a license. The upcoming championship or the 2023 activities.”

Fans Blast Nintendo and Panda for Canceling Smash World Tour

The news sent Twitter into a frenzy, with fans not shy about expressing frustration with Nintendo’s handling of the competitive Smash scene.

One person commented, “It’s crazy how many times this community. Naively puts their faith in Nintendo, only to get hammered over and over again.”

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‘This is depressing… They are the worst company to legitimately try to stop a fan base that loves their games!” Another fan commented.

Beyond The Summit’s LD also revealed that Alan Bunney of Panda Globa, another tournament organizer, told other TOs that this would happen if they did not participate in the upcoming Nintendo-licensed Panda Cup.

They say that “Alan spent months trying to intimidate them into attending the Cup by running a protection campaign to TOs, including BTS, saying “it would be a shame if your event were shut down for being non-licensed.”

They are only looking to shut down IP infringement.

This is said to be “in direct conflict with our conversations with Nintendo.” The publisher, who took the issue directly to Nintendo, responded that they are “only looking to shut down IP infringement regarding game mods, and are not considering an unlicensed Smash World Tour.”

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They reminded him, “Nintendo’s goal is not to gatekeep or trap the community, but to make the licensing guidelines accessible and clear.”

In response, Smash Bros. pro Sparg0 has threatened to boycott the event altogether. He said, “I can’t believe that hundreds of people will be affected by this. The Panda Cup will most likely be skipped.”

“I will never again attend a Nintendo or Panda Circuit-sanctioned event,” Aiden Calvin said on Twitter.” This is very unnecessary and disheartening.”

In a longer statement shared on social media, he accused Nintendo of lacking support over the years and directly “hindering” the scene’s “ability to succeed and grow.”

He added, “At no time has they done anything substantive to support the community.

Ken Chen, former creative director of Beyond The Summit, stated, “I will never again watch, support, or attend an event hosted or broadcast by Panda.

Nintendo itself stated to Kotaku

It was the only tournament I still wanted to play.” It’s very sad news,” added T1 star MkLeo.

Nintendo itself stated to Kotaku rather than directly to the organizers of the SWT. In it, the company stated. “After continued discussions with the Smash World Tour and similarly deep consideration for potential partners, unfortunately, we could not agree with SWT to host the full circuit in 2023.

“Nintendo did not request any changes or cancellations for the remaining events, including the 2022 championship event, due to the negative impact on players who had already planned to attend.”

The organizers refuted the publishers’ claims, saying they had not applied to 2023. They also submitted a license for the 2022 championship in April.

Added SWT, “We didn’t anticipate that Nintendo would include all of their 2023 activities.”

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