As we've discussed several times before on this very site, competitive Super Smash Bros. fans haven't exactly been happy with Nintendo's lack of funding for eSports events surrounding the franchise. Indeed, just last month, one leading player used his winning speech at an event as an opportunity to publicly call Nintendo out on the matter.
It would appear that the community has now taken things into its own hands, as an unofficial Smash World Tour 2020 has been revealed with a mighty $250,000 prize pool already guaranteed. Designed by the people behind VGBootCamp and Super Smash Con, this new tournament circuit will host events all around the world as players compete to earn points that go towards a place in the grand finals.
The $250,000 is split two ways between a Super Smash Bros. Ultimate competition, and one for Super Smash Bros. Melee. You can learn much more and read up on the official rules at the tournament's website, but here's a quick overview:
Between Platinum, Gold, and Silver tournaments, players can earn points from community events all of the world. At the end of the year, the competitors with the most points will be flown out for the SWT Championships (December 17-20th), with over a combined $250,000 on the line!
Players can earn points from both the largest Smash events in the world and their local weeklies – our goal is that the Smash World Tour encourages growth at every event level!
While the competition isn't affiliated with Nintendo, its organisers "hope to team up with them in the future". They say, "One of our goals with the Tour is to offer a unified way for Nintendo to directly support the competitive scene". It is, however, already partnered with both Twitch and Smash.gg.
It's certainly an interesting development, and one that will no doubt please those who have invested so much of their time perfecting their Smash-playing craft. It'll also be interesting to see how - if at all - Nintendo decides to respond.
Do you think this is a step in the right direction for the Smash scene? Share your thoughts with us below.
[source smashworldtour.com, via eventhubs.com]
Comments 18
Saw the video on VGBootCamp's channel but didn't watch it. Sounds pretty sweet.
Had me until "melee"
I can see Nintendo being okay with someone promoting their game AS LONG as the advertising is appropriate and there isn't any un-PG stuff going on like Swearing and gambling that would adversely affect the brand.
But again, it's Nintendo's property and they can do what they like with it, and no one has a right to profit on it unless Nintendo says it's okay.
This sounds much better, than basically saying "Hey Nintendo, I want to play your game to earn money, so you owe me!"
This IMO is so much better than someone calling out a company for the sake of their own career. Do what you do. In a way independence from the company who made the game is a good thing. Keep doing what you love regardless of support. And maybe Nintendo will respond...in a good way.
Nice. It's better for things like this to grow organically and from within the community. And maybe now HungryBox can stop whining.
There are many issues with eSports, which Nintendo definitely has no responsibility to sink money into. The big one with Smash, in my opinion, is enforcing this idea that there's one way above all else to play the game. I know a very large number of people who don't really care for most fighting games and have no interest in learning them, but they love Smash Bros. A big part of that is in its design philosophy: The game is crafted with advanced players in mind, yes, but it also has a ton of equalizers for casual or less skilled players. If Nintendo starts adding fuel to the idea that there's a professional way to play Smash Bros, it's going to change the feel of the game for a lot of people.
Sorry, early morning rant and I haven't totally woken up yet.
would it suprise anyone if N actually tried to shut it down lol
@Doofenshmirtz Melee still has an active playerbase and isn’t going to be ignored, as this is supposed to unify the whole community. What harm is Melee actually doing?
Good, now they can stop demanding money from Nintendo. Supply and demand and whatnot. All’s well that ends well.
Just made an acccount to make this comment, people who moan about melee are the people who dont like learning controls, most people dont use wavedashing or l cancelling without conciously knowing of it, and most people from brawl onwards dont like that approach to leaning in game i feel, because they hit a point after a few yesrs that they learn the bulk of tech and mechanics themselves, and thats cool, but dont get annoyed at people like us whove played melee for over 10 years who love that, and no nintendo dosent owe us anything, but it is fundimentally goodwill and further reason to support and buy a fighting game look at the capcom cup!!! and thats the point i think brawl/4/ultimate people need to accept.
All this shade on HBox... makes no sense to me. Clearly there isn’t much love for eSports here which is pretty shocking TBH. But he’s not selfish, He even said “Nintendo, support the scene I even if it’s just for ULTIMATE”. HBox isn’t good enough at ultimate to place in tournaments. He just wants the scene to grow and it’s a smart move by Nintendo.
To those that are against I ask them this, “Should all games, sports, or any game played for money be strictly crowdfunded? If I can get paid millions a year for throwing or kicking a ball well, what’s the difference with Smash. I find competitive Smash FAR more engaging.
noo thank you, i rather be safe, care for my health and go out there with the coronavirus can get my weak self xD just no lol. nice that there doing a tournament like this just er not a great idea to do it now.
It's better for players to form their own leagues anyway. That way they can make their own rules and aren't going to be limited in the ways a company like Nintendo have. For example a player organized tournament isn't going to be super cautious on language, and isn't going to be pressured to make similar events all over the world. They can team up with groups who also do tournaments for other games as well, even games from other companies too.
@ShadowSniper7 Supply and demand. They sell lots of tickets that people are willing to spend a lot of money on, so the industry is bigger. You can't make millions per year playing curling, darts or chess, and players that don't like how they're compensated are free to try their hand at a different game. Go get it!
@Euler: You are not wrong. And I’m not saying Nintendo needs to dish out millions to these players but I feel in this case a little would go a long way in growing the scene. I mean let’s face it, Esports is growing and it will continue to do so. Its a complete missed opportunity by Nintendo to not throw at least a little bit of cash into that growing cash cow especially with their flag ship Esports game ( I get it, they don’t like Esports but they didn’t like phones at first either!)
Think of it as like investing in Amazon back in the late 90s, early 2000s. Maybe it’s not THAT extreme but you see where I’m going with it lol
You shouldn’t have to be a top 10 Smash player just to barely scrape by making a living :/
@ShadowSniper7 It’s not immediately obvious that there’s anything in it for Nintendo if they put in money (it would probably be more like investing in Google Stadia rather than Amazon), and they’re not socially responsible for anyone making a living other than their employees and investors.
@Doofenshmirtz Have you ever played Melee? It's legit kinda fire you should try it. I was an ultimate fanboy until like 3 months ago
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