If you reside in the US and would live the opportunity to host a community tournament of your favourite Nintendo games (like Splatoon 3, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, for example), Nintendo America has reformed their Community Tournament Guidelines, which will come into effect on November 15th, 2023.
The reformed guidelines can be quite imposing for some people, and a good number of folks have taken to social media to express their discontent. At face value, the guidelines sound reasonable.. until you really start to read them and realise that they are actually quite restrictive. For example, while you can accept competitor fees to offset organization costs and use it for prizes, you can only use spectator fees for organisation costs, and there can not be any financial gain or profit. Fees and prize money are also restricted to not surpass a certain amount, and you can not accept third-party companies as sponsors.
This is just the tip of the iceberg, and there are many more rules that have rubbed folks up the wrong way. If you would like to the guidelines for yourself, you can find them below. As for any additional questions, you will find them over at Nintendo America Support.
- Games with online play must use the online gameplay services and/or servers officially provided by Nintendo.
- The Organizer posts the following notices on-site and on tournament websites and other promotional materials:
- “Nintendo is not a sponsor of or affiliated with this tournament.”
- “Terms for participating in and viewing Community Tournaments using Nintendo Games” accompanied with the following URL.
https://en-americas-support.nintendo.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/63454- The Organizer adheres to the following additional stipulations:
- Organizers are responsible for ensuring Community Tournaments comply with all applicable laws, including, but not limited to, protection of personal information for Participants and Spectators and appropriate parental consent for minors .
- Organizers must ensure the health and safety of Participants and Spectators to the best of their ability.
- Organizers will make full efforts to create a Community Tournament that is friendly and welcoming to all, and that fully respects the dignity of Participants and will not tolerate harassment or discrimination of any kind, including bas ed on race, ethnicity, nationality, ideology, religion, belief, origin, social status, class, occupation, sex, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, or marital status.
- Organizers will not permit gambling or the use of alcohol or drugs at Community Tournaments.
- Organizers will make sure that Participants and Spectators are of age according to the applicable age rating of the game used in the tournament.
- For the use of any intellectual property rights owned by a third party, Organizers must obtain permission from those rights owners separately from these guidelines
- In addition, Nintendo Games may not be used for Community Tournaments that:
- Are illegal or inappropriately conducted, or could be viewed as offensive or otherwise inappropriate as further described in Q16 below
- Fail to protect the health, safety and dignity of Participants and Spectators
- Have sponsors or that advertise or promote any entity, products or services
- Promote any campaigns or initiatives based on personal or organized opinions, ideologies, or beliefs
- Include anything that damages the value of the Nintendo brand and Intellectual Property
- Fail to follow these guidelines
- Involve anything that Nintendo deems inappropriate
Nintendo reserves the right to take legal action against or cancel any Community Tournaments in its sole discretion, including any tournaments that violate or are likely to violate these guidelines, or Community Tournaments that Nintendo otherwise deems inappropriate. In addition, we may take measures such as prohibiting individuals who violate these guidelines, or engage in other inappropriate acts, from hosting tournaments in the future.
Nintendo is not responsible for any problems that may arise between Organizers, Participants, Spectators, or third parties regarding the operation of the Community Tournament. In addition, please be advised that Nintendo will not respond to individual inquiries regarding the guidelines or Q&A.
We may update these guidelines and Q&A from time to time, so please check the latest guidelines and Q&A before announcing and conducting a Community Tournament.
If there are special provisions in other Nintendo guidelines, please follow those guidelines as well.
What are your thoughts on the new stipulations? Will they make you think twice before hosting your own Nintendo themed community tournament? Let us know in the comments.
Source: Nintendo America Support
