During the Q&A summary of Nintendo’s 81st Annual General Meeting of Shareholders, president Shuntaro Furukawa was asked regarding the company’s plans for e-sports.
One investor stated: “I heard that a game tournament using Nintendo software was held the other day and it was a great success, but it was an unofficial tournament. I’d like to hear more about Nintendo’s plans for involvement with e-sports going forward”.
Furukawa responded: “We believe that formats like e-sports where players compete against each other in front of many people are a way to share the gameplay experience with a broader audience. Nintendo has a history of holding game tournaments, and while this was before the pandemic, we held the final stage of the national elementary school Smash Bros. tournament and the Splatoon Koshien 2020 Kinki Regional Tournament during the Nintendo Live 2019 event in Kyoto in October 2019. We felt those tournaments were well-received, not only by the audiences onsite, but also those watching online. Game tournaments can motivate people who own the game to keep playing and they can generate interest in Nintendo games and characters in people who do not own the game. We will continue to hold game tournaments and other such events going forward by carefully monitoring the situation surrounding the pandemic.”
Source: Page 4 of Q&A
In recent years, Nintendo has been known for their minor support of the e-sports scene for the Super Smash Bros. series. This isn’t the first time Nintendo has commented on e-sports since EVO was bought by Sony earlier this year.
Do you think Nintendo will embrace the e-sports scene more than they currently are now? Share your thoughts down below!
Dave’s first Nintendo platform was the GameCube when he was age 7; however, he was introduced to Nintendo through Duck Hunt on NES.