Nintendo releases strict new guidelines for smaller-scale fan tournaments

Nintendo has released strict new guidelines for the smaller-scale competitive tournament scene, outlining exactly what it will permit - with caps on everything from competitor numbers to ticket prices - before organisers must apply for an official license from the company.

As detailed in its new Community Tournament Guidelines - which were initially published by Nintendo of Japan before appearing in locally adjusted form on Nintendo of Europe's website earlier today - tournaments will be permitted to continue without a license after 15th November this year, provided they are "small-scale and not for commercial profit".

More specifically, these strictly limited events - which Nintendo is terming "community tournaments" - may not have more than 200 participants a day when held in-person, increasing to 300 daily participants for online tournaments. Additionally, money raised through spectator tickets and entry fees, capped at £18/€20 and £14/€15 a person respectively, must not exceed the costs of organising the tournament and raising prize money - although prize money (limited to a total of £4,500/€5,000) also cannot be generated from spectator ticket sales.

And there're plenty more restrictions where those came from; Nintendo is explicitly prohibiting the sale of food and drink at venues with spectators, for instance, while tournaments may not use the name of a Nintendo game in their title (although use is granted for accompanying event descriptions), and schools can only host a license-free community tournament provided it is not open to the public and is held between no more than two schools.

Reams of additional stipulations are outlined in the accompanying FAQ, none of which are likely to fill tournament organisers with much confidence in Nintendo. The company has, of course, had an increasingly fractious relationship with the competitive tournament scene in recent times, encapsulated in a messy, high-profile fallout with the organisers of the hugely popular (but unlicensed) Smash World Tour last year.

Last December, Smash World Tour organisers announced they were pulling the plug on the 2022 competition's concluding Championships after claiming to have "received notice the night before Thanksgiving from Nintendo that we could no longer operate". Nintendo refuted those claims in a follow-up statement, saying it had told organisers it would not require the cancellation of 2022's tournament finals "because of the impact it would have on players", but admitted it would not be granting a license for the Smash World Tour's 2022 or 2023 activities. The Championships did not go ahead.