Nintendo’s latest set of tournament guidelines has raised concerns within the competitive Super Smash Bros. community, particularly impacting popular events like the Coinbox series hosted by Team Liquid and Juan “Hungrybox” Debiedma. While these guidelines seem to target Coinbox’s Melee operations, Hbox is determined to continue until Nintendo directly approaches him.
The new guidelines include several restrictions that will affect Smash events, but three key points stand out in relation to Coinbox. Firstly, Nintendo states that any unlicensed tournament, considered “small-scale,” cannot have more than 300 online participants, feature sponsors, or use unauthorized software or tools. All three of these directly impact Coinbox, which often hosts tournaments with over 300 players, has Coinbase as a title sponsor in partnership with Liquid, and relies on third-party services like Slippi for its Melee brackets.
If these changes go into effect on November 15th and for events starting in 2024, Melee Coinbox events will be in direct opposition to Nintendo’s guidelines. However, Hbox is not deterred and plans to continue running Coinbox until he receives direct communication from Nintendo. He refuses to stop out of fear and challenges the company to approach him directly with a document. He is calling their bluff.
Hbox has maintained a similar stance in the face of Nintendo’s crackdown on his online tournaments and Melee events in the past. Despite various issues and fan backlash, he remains committed to providing consistent weekly tournaments for the Smash scene through Coinbox. These tournaments have seen over 1,000 players competing and offered $3,000 prize pools each week for most of this year.
While Hbox does not plan on letting Coinbox die, he acknowledges that his “run my events until I get a knock banging on my door” mentality can only go so far. If Nintendo contacts him, he will shut down Melee Coinbox since it is a modded version of the game. However, he hopes for a middle ground with the company regarding Slippi events, although he considers it unlikely.
In a follow-up post, Hbox emphasizes that this is not the end of competitive Smash, but the future of Melee Coinbox depends on Nintendo’s response. He recognizes the importance of having the developers on his side but believes that sacrifices may not always be worth it.
Nintendo has confirmed that the application for official licenses will be available in early November. It remains unclear whether this will address concerns such as license turnaround times or limitations on merchandise and food sales.
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Source: DOTESPORTS
