Nintendo has announced a slew of new guidelines changes for Super Smash Bros. tournaments, and an anonymous TO might have revealed why.
Nintendo published new tournament guidelines on October 24 that sent many Smash players over the edge. The guidelines limit the size of in-person events to just 200 entrants, 300 for online tournaments. The developer also capped registration fees.
The changes were first announced in Europe and Japan, then for North America and other regions.
The Japanese developer is known to meddle in its popular esport, mostly to the horror of competitive players, and this latest edition comes after the fall of Panda Global and other Smash circuits.
One anonymous tournament operator has said on social media the most likely reason for Nintendo’s new guidelines is as a response to a major event ignoring legal action by the company.
Nintendo sent C&D to Smash tournament claims anonymous TO
An X account called Skibidisammy, which was created in October 2023 and started posting on October 24, claims to be a tournament organizer in the Smash community. They said their event was scheduled in the now-defunct Panada Cup and shared a pitch deck from the company to prove it.
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The thread contained multiple slides, and some commentary from the TO. The account then posted about the new guideline situation, saying Super Smash Con ignoring a cease and desist from Nintendo may have led to the announcement.
It's my understanding that the guidelines being posted today from Nintendo Japan, Nintendo UK, and soon Nintendo America were always going to be implemented. Behind-the-scenes events like Super Smash Con ignoring a Nintendo C&D for their 2023 event may have lead to escalation.
— Skibidisammy (@skibidisammy) October 24, 2023
This would not be the first time Nintendo has threatened legal action against a Smash tournament. In 2020, the popular tournament series The Big House was sent a cease and desist letter from Nintendo of America for an online event because of its use of Slippi.
The developer also recently shut down the Smash World Tour in late 2022 because it was operating without a commercial license.
The account has not revealed its real name at the time of writing. One of the organizers of Super Smash Con, and a few other big Smash events, responded to the post and said that the tournament series did not get a cease and desist letter from Nintendo.
Not sure whose burner this is but I have it on good authority that the alleged SSC C&D didn't actually happen. https://t.co/zTE7T7oJaF
— Roflfox (@TheRoflfox) October 24, 2023
“I have it on good authority that the alleged SSC C&D didn’t actually happen,” they said.