Nintendo’sSuper Smash Bros. Ultimateis a staple of fighting games; the crossover platform fighter that popularized the subgenre remains well-known even over twenty years after the first game. Sadly, Nintendo is not allowing it to be a part of a big fighting game tournament this year.
The Evolution Championship Series esports event, also known as EVO, is a fighting game competition featuring some of the best players from around the world battling in games likeGuilty Gear Strive,Street Fighterand, of course,Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. These competitions are tense battles of skill and players make use of advanced strategies to gain an edge over opponents.
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Unfortunately for platform fighter fans, EVO has announced thatSuper Smash Bros. Ultimatewill not be appearing at the event this year. This is a confusing decision by Nintendo consideringhow influentialSuper Smash Bros. isin fighting games. Importantly, the wording of the announcement implies that this decision was made by Nintendo, not EVO itself; EVO also expresses that the event organizers hope Nintendo will allow the game to return in the future. Until then, they may have to find alternative games to fill the platform fighter void left bySmash Ultimate.
Luckily for EVO, thepast year has been stellar for platform fighters, with games likeNickelodeon All-Star Brawlreleasing andWarner Bros. MultiVersusannounced, as well as games that have been around for years likeSlap CityandRivals of Aether. Even withoutSuper Smash Bros. Ultimatein the lineup, EVO has a nice selection of other games in the platform fighter subgenre to pick from and even more will appear as the years go on.Super Smash Bros.may have popularized and carried the genre for many years, but now the competition is finally catching up.
While details are sparse, it is possible that Nintendo’s decision to withholdSuper Smash Bros. Ultimatefrom EVO could be rooted in the game’s end of full-time development. After adding Sora as the final playable DLC character,Super Smash Bros. Ultimatehas not received major content additions besides alimited-time crossover with Capcom’sStreet Fighterseries.
While the decision to withholdSuper Smash Bros.from EVO is surprising, it is unfortunately a decision with some precedent. Nintendo is known for being very controlling ofSuper Smash Bros.tournaments in general, oftencanceling fan-runSmashtournaments for using modseven when there is little legal precedent to do so.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimateis available now on Nintendo Switch.
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