User:SenorMexicano/2022 Smash World Tour-Panda Cup controversy
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The 2022 Smash World Tour-Panda Cup controversy is an ongoing controversy that began with the cancelation of the Smash World Tour 2022 on November 29th, 2022.
Background
On November 29th, 2022, a statement was released in which it was announced that the Smash World Tour 2022 had been canceled due to Nintendo not granting a license for the event to VGBootCamp, the organization behind the event. The document states that on the night of November 23rd, 2022, the organization had received a notice from Nintendo that the event could no longer operate. VGBootCamp expressed that the notice was "especially shocking" in part due to the positive discourse that had been occurring between the organization and Nintendo during the prior twelve months. It was stated that in the weeks following up to the announcement, VGBootCamp had attempted to communicate with Nintendo multiple times, but were not granted any requests.
The document states that following the announcement of the Panda Cup in November 2021, senior representatives from Nintendo, including a member of their legal team, had contacted the organization in regard to the Smash World Tour 2021. The Nintendo representatives were knowledgeable on the growth of VGBootCamp over the years and were interested in collaborating with the organization. Furthermore, they expressed that the collaboration between them and Panda was not exclusive. They also stated that VGBootCamp not infringing on Nintendo IP through the use of gameplay modifications had "not gone unnoticed" and also remarked that the organization "represented Nintendo’s values well". The conversation had led the organizers to look more optimistically on a potential relationship between the competitive community and Nintendo
As a result of the discussions with Nintendo, VGBootCamp initially held off on announcing the 2022 iteration of the Smash World Tour during the Smash World Tour 2021 Championships as per Nintendo's request. The organization's goal was to receive a license for the event before the circuit had formally begun. During the period of time between December 2021 and March 2022, talks had continued between VGBootCamp and Nintendo.
