The Splatoon 2 NA Open that was scheduled on December 5th-6th has been cancelled due Nintendo due to over 30% of the teams naming themselves in support for the Melee community.
Earlier on November, a Super Smash Bros. Melee tournament hosted by The Big House was set for December 2020. The tournament would be using Slippi, a software that would enable saving or replays, match statistic, as well as rollback netcode and integrated matchmaking into the game.
Due to the pandemic, which cancelled the July tournament, this was the only way for Melee to be part of the tournament, as the original game did not have online features.
Nintendo requested that Slippi not be used and to cancel the Melee portion of the tournament (and just let the Ultimate part run), as using Slippi was in violating of the Nintendo End User License Agreement, which prohibits the altering of their products in any shape, way, or form.
When The Big House refused, Nintendo sent a Cease and Desist to cancel the tournament. Since then, the Melee community and supporters have taken to social media with the hashtag #FreeMelee to protest Nintendo’s decision.
Eventually, that sentiment has gone over to the Splatoon 2 community, where supporters from the Nintendo shooter community have taken to naming their team names in reference to #FreeMelee, which, unfortunately, led to Nintendo cancelling the streaming of the finals. Despite the fact that only around 30% of the teams had such names, the other 70% of teams have lost out on the opportunity to participate in the event.
“Unexpected executional challenges” have been cited as the reason for the cancellation, however, players and TOs reasoned that the teams’ vocal support for the #FreeMelee movement as the reason for the decision.
Fans have taken to social media condemning Nintendo for the decision, saying that the move was petty, unnecessary, and unfair to the other teams who simply wanted to participate while voicing their appreciation to the Splatoon community for their actions.
Some, however, blame the teams for their actions and bringing the Melee controversy to Splatoon 2, as well as pointing out the toxicity of the Smash community.
Nintendo hasn’t been supportive of their games’ competitive scenes in the past, and show no signs of doing so. Nintendo has been accused of ghosting or leading on tournament organizers, leading them to believe that they will finally start supporting the Melee community, but never did.
Although the stream has been cancelled, the event is still going forward. Nintendo has yet to make an official statement in regards of the cancellation of the Splatoon 2 NA Open.
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