Smash Bros esports in chaos: Nintendo quashes unaffiliated events

Updated on 12/2 at 11am PT: The Smash World Tour (SWT), a grassroots Super Smash Bros. circuit organized by VGBootCamp, announced that Nintendo is shutting down its finale less than two weeks before the event. This has major implications for both the grassroots esports scene and its relationship with Nintendo.

Smash World Tour background and allegations

Over the last year, Super Smash Bros. community figures have launched two major circuits to help unify the community: the SWT and the Panda Cup. Both of these events were structurally similar. Players could earn points at participating independently run events to earn their way into a year-end finale. However, Panda Global’s Panda Cup was working with Nintendo in an official capacity.