Nintendo Release Official Statement Regarding SWT Debacle

Following the controversy involving Nintendo, Panda Global, and the Smash World Tour, there has been a lot of confusion, accusation, and general unhappiness among the Smash community, especially on social media. 

To this end, Nintendo has released a statement via IGN responding to the debacle and stating that the decision to refuse the Smash World Tour a commercial license for this year and 2023, is one they reached by themselves with no undue influence. 

Remember that SWT had released a lengthy statement via Medium where they explained the situation surrounding their inability to have the Smash Tour, which was slated to take place this month. According to that statement, they claimed that amidst all the drama, the CEO of Panda had been going behind the scenes to sabotage their efforts. 

This has led many fans to call for the boycott of future Panda events and even led to players to state that they would no longer be having anything to do with Panda. 

In Nintendo's statement, they claimed that their action was advised by "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." 

This would seem to be Nintendo telling people to lay off Panda. They also stated that they had concerns, "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." 

This is a vague statement that needs a whole lot more context than Nintendo seems willing to provide. They also stated that the decision to cancel the SWT 2022 finals event was not on them as they did not stop SWT from carrying on with the event for this year. 

Panda has yet to release a statement of its own, which means that we still do not have a clear picture of the situation. However, it is hoped that this all could come to a favorable conclusion.

On a positive note, the statement also revealed that Nintendo is still open and willing to partner with other organizations as long as their standards are met.