Super Smash Bros. has been one of the most popular fighting games in the world of gaming since the franchise’s early days with the Nintendo GameCube’s Super Smash Bros. Melee. While Nintendo rarely held officially sanctioned tournaments for the game, organizations like GENESIS and The Big House among many other smaller tournaments built the franchise into one of the staples of the esports industry. With Nintendo announcing its involvement with the future of competitive Super Smash Bros. earlier this month, popular streamer Ludwig recently announced his intent to host a large-scale Super Smash Bros. tournament.
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During a recent interview following his departure from Twitch for YouTube, Ludwig announced plans to host “the biggest Smash tournament of all time” estimated to cost over $1 million between prize pool and venue costs. Ludwig cited his tournament ambitions as a major reason the streamer decided to make his highly publicized switch to YouTube Gaming. While Ludwig has yet to confirm any potential dates for the Smash Bros tournament, his estimated investment into the tournament could easily break prize pool records within the Smash circuit.
The announcement of Ludwig’s Super Smash Bros tournament comes alongside the streamer’s massive announcement that he will be changing platforms to YouTube Gaming from Twitch. Ludwig made waves earlier in the year when the streamer’s subathon saw him passing popular content creator Ninja as the most subscribed streamer on Twitch. He is estimated to have earned nearly $1 million USD (after Twitch’s cut of the earnings) during the 30-day-long streaming event, with much of his earnings being paid back out as charitable donations or payroll for his moderators.
The advent of official Nintendo-sponsored Super Smash Bros tournaments has major implications for the 22-year-old franchise that has built much of its competitive success off community-run tournaments. With Nintendo recently confirming Super Smash Bros. Ultimate’s final update, and the game’s final DLC fighter, Kingdom Hearts’ Sora, releasing last month, many fans have already begun to look forward to the future of the popular series. With Nintendo looking to properly support the franchise’s competitive circuit, Super Smash Bros. looks set to continue its success well into the future.
Super Smash Bros Ultimate is available now for Nintendo Switch.
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Source: Dexerto