Smash World Tour

Origins and 2020 Inaugural Attempt

The Smash World Tour was founded by siblings Calvin Lofton and Matthew Lofton of the tournament organizer VGBootCamp, along with Justin Wykowski, a producer for Super Smash Con. Announced in March 2020, the circuit was envisioned as a global series of tournaments to crown world champions for Super Smash Bros. Melee and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. The founders aimed to push Smash toward being a top tier esport and make it more profitable for organizers and players.

The tour launched without an official license from Nintendo, the publisher of Super Smash Bros. The organizers stated they were in active discussions with the company, hoping to present a completed circuit as an opportunity for partnership. However, the global COVID-19 pandemic forced the cancellation of all offline events in mid March 2020, ending the inaugural tour prematurely. Only two small tournaments, Don't Stomp On Me and SoCal The Hype, were held on March 14 before the shutdown.

The 2021 Season and First Championships

Announced in February 2021, the tour returned with a revised format suited to the ongoing pandemic. Instead of a point system across independent tournaments, the 2021 circuit consisted of 19 dedicated events created by the organizers. These included online Qualifiers, regional invitationals called Regional Finals, and Last Chance Qualifiers. The circuit again partnered with Twitch but not with Nintendo.

The pandemic still caused disruptions, leading to the cancellation of the Oceania Regional Finals and the Melee South America Regional Finals. Travel restrictions also impacted the East Asia Regional Finals in Japan. Despite these challenges, the tour culminated in the Smash World Championships in December 2021. The event featured 40 players for each game and offered a combined prize pool of $150,000, a record for a single Smash Bros. event at the time. American player Plup won the inaugural Melee world championship, while Mexican player MkLeo won the inaugural Ultimate world championship.

Peak Scale in 2022

The 2022 edition, announced in March, marked a return to the tour's original vision. It utilized a point system where thousands of independent tournaments around the world could contribute points toward qualification for the Championships. New partners included Twitch and the online coaching platform Metafy. The planned prize pool for the year end Championships was $250,000, set to be the highest in Super Smash Bros. history.

The 2022 circuit was massive in scale. It included over 6,400 offline tournaments and featured more than 325,000 players, making it the largest tour in esports history at the time. High tier Platinum and Gold events were held in countries with less internationally recognized scenes, such as Brazil, Cuba, Qatar, and South Korea. The points race concluded in November, with American player Hungrybox leading the Melee rankings and MkLeo leading the Ultimate rankings ahead of the planned Championships.

Sudden Cancellation and Controversy

On November 29, 2022, less than two weeks before the 2022 Championships were to begin, the Smash World Tour organizers announced the cancellation of the finals and the entire 2023 circuit. They stated that Nintendo had informed them a license would not be granted for these events, effectively forcing a shutdown. The organizers also made serious allegations against Alan Bunney, the CEO of the esports organization Panda.

They accused Bunney of using his company's official license from Nintendo for the competing Panda Cup circuit to sabotage the Smash World Tour. Specific allegations included encouraging tournament organizers to abandon the SWT for the Panda Cup and attempting to seize broadcasting rights from another organizer, Beyond the Summit. The announcement triggered a major controversy within the Super Smash Bros. community.

Corporate Responses and Community Backlash

Nintendo responded to the controversy by stating they were unable to reach a licensing agreement with the Smash World Tour for 2023. The company claimed they did not request the cancellation of the 2022 Championships, acknowledging the negative impact on players. The Smash World Tour organizers disputed this account, stating Nintendo had directly confirmed the events were not to proceed. In a later statement, Nintendo reaffirmed its partnership with Panda.

Panda issued a statement denying involvement in the SWT's cancellation and most of the allegations against Bunney, though it acknowledged an incident where Bunney spoke in a manner that did not reflect company standards. The community response was intensely negative. Many top players announced a boycott of the upcoming Panda Cup Finale. This backlash led to a wave of resignations from Panda employees. On December 5, Panda announced that Bunney had stepped down as CEO and that the Panda Cup Finale was postponed due to security concerns.

Impact and Legacy

The cancellation had immediate ripple effects beyond the Championships. VGBootCamp, a core organizer of the tour, cancelled its upcoming major tournaments Glitch: Duel of Fates and Double Down 2023, citing risk from their communications with Nintendo. The community's condemnation was near universal, with players, fans, and other organizations expressing support for the Smash World Tour and criticizing the actions of Nintendo and Panda.

Despite its abrupt end, the Smash World Tour left a significant mark. The 2021 Championships set a prize pool record, and the 2022 circuit demonstrated the massive global scale the community could achieve. Its creation was a direct attempt to build a professional, self sustaining circuit for Smash Bros. outside of official publisher support. The controversy surrounding its cancellation highlighted the long-standing tensions between the grassroots competitive community and Nintendo's approach to its intellectual property.