Nintendo And Panda Release Statements About Smash World Tour Cancelation, Get Thoroughly Roasted

As was a matter of time after the grassroots independent gaming organization Video Game Boot Camp (VGBC) canceled the 2022 Smash World Tour championships due to an apparent cease and desist from Nintendo, the company and its alleged partners in crimes against the Super Smash Brothers community, Panda Global have released statements responding to the controversy that appears to have largely devastated the Super Smash Brothers scene.

In a statement given late last night to IGN, Nintendo contradicted VGBC's claim that the company forced them to cancel the 2022 championships, telling them they knew that doing so would greatly impact the players. They reiterated that they would not let them operate in 2023, though VGBC claims they hadn't sent an application to operate next year.

Excerpts from Nintendo's statement are below (with emphasis added).

Nintendo’s decision was solely based on our assessment of the proposals submitted by the SWT and our evaluation of their unlicensed activities. This decision was not influenced by any external parties such as Panda Global. Any partner that we grant a license to has to meet the high standards we require when it comes to the health and safety of our fans…

When we notified the SWT that we would not license their 2022 or 2023 activities, we also let them know verbally that we were not requiring they cancel the 2022 finals event because of the impact it would have on players. Thus, the decision to cancel the SWT 2022 was, and still is, their own choice.

Panda Global will continue to be a key partner and we look forward to receiving proposals from other groups for tournament licenses. In the meantime, Panda continues to advocate on behalf of the Super Smash Bros. community, even to the point that Panda has advocated for other organizations and tournaments to work with Nintendo, such as The Big House and the organizers of the SWT to benefit the larger Super Smash Bros. community.

VGBC responded to the statement in a separate document reiterating their claim that Nintendo had told them point blank they could not run the 2022 SWT championships, writing:

In response to the question [about understanding the negative impacts this would have for the community], Nintendo responded that they were “confident that from A-Z, all consequences have been evaluated in making this decision,” specifically acknowledging that fallout scenarios included “some positive, some negative, and some really negative.”

Earlier today, Panda Global then released its statement on the matter. It echoed Nintendo's line that VGBC were not told they had to cancel the 2022 SWT championship and did so of their own accord. It did, however, corroborate a story in VGBC's initial announcement that Panda's CEO, Dr. Alan, had apparently threatened another organization, BTS Smash, with a cease and desist from Nintendo if the organization did not join the Panda circuit.

pic.twitter.com/KmCiKddaqh

— Panda (@PandaGlobal) December 2, 2022

Thus, Smash fans are left with conflicting statements from grassroots organizers and a mega-corporation with a history of actively working against the competitive Smash scene and their partners who admitted to intimidating other independent organizers with a "join or die" line.

Given these options, many, including some of Panda's own players, sided with VGBC against both Panda and Nintendo.

Yucky response, actually just dropped a nothing sandwich after two days. Don’t really see how Panda moves on from this https://t.co/CgZvggW1VW

— Charlie (@MoistCr1TiKaL) December 2, 2022

So in conclusion, Nintendo still cancelled the SWT, Panda vaguely denies everything, and will continue running their Panda Cup with Alan at CEO, changing absolutely nothing after the backlash

Yeah, I feel so fucking bad for the competitive Smash scene man. This sucks ass. https://t.co/avQVETWOGX

— Colin (@IntroSpecktive) December 2, 2022

My actual issue with this is even if somehow the entire thing were someone else’s fault, right, it feels like there was no empathy in the statement.

The tone is just denial and then one apology that sounds so forced.

Even if they were clear, it just feels tone deaf :/. https://t.co/jqzu7bO6qK

— Panda | iBDW (Cody Schwab) (@iBDWSSBM) December 2, 2022

Times are currently dire for the Smash community, as now players are boycotting Panda's events because of what they've allegedly done to other independent tournament organizers, while those independent tournament organizers don't know if they'll be able to operate under threat of a cease and desist from Nintendo.

This potentially means that now players and fans will have to choose between attending or watching a tournament representing the death of competitive Smash or no tournaments at all.