The Big House Cancels Upcoming Online Event Because of Cease and Desist from Nintendo

In a bit of terrible news today, The Big House, the biggest open fall Smash Bros event, tweeted out that their upcoming online event has been cancelled because of a cease and desist from Nintendo of America, Inc. This is unfortunately commonplace for Nintendo, as they tend to protect their IPs and games to an extreme degree, but this one is more gutting than usual.

We at Nintendo Link are heartbroken over this situation, but we cannot even begin to understand the stress and pain befallen The Big House and all their planning and preparation. Not a lot can be done about this decision, but letting Nintendo know of your displeasure is at least a start.

The main point of reason for the cease and desist is the use of Slippi, a project that adds a lot of quality of life updates to Super Smash Bros Melee. We know Nintendo is not entirely against their games being used in competitions, but they have been quite vocal over the years about modifying their games and distributing them freely. Understandably, Nintendo does not want their brands to be passed around like candy, but instead of criminalizing these fans, Nintendo needs to learn how to better connect with these players and show their support in the competitive community.

We will continue to update you on this situation as details come in, but in the meantime, take a moment to go to The Big House’s Twitter page and send them your condolences.