Nintendo is pretty strict when it comes to the Super Smash Bros. Community. Just recently, the company shut down a Super Smash Bros. Melee online tournament because the company running the event was using a pirated version of the game.
Now, the company seems to have set its sights on modders, taking their videos down one by one in an unprecedented attack.
Nintendo has made its feelings known in the past about the Super Smash Bros. modding community.
In short, they do not approve.
They’ve taken their disapproval to a whole new level, though, specifically targeting videos that show modded Smash Bros. content and taking them down.
Initially, their stance was understandable, since the company was targeting mods that required illegal copes of the game. Now, however, they seem to be targeting legal mods that have a solely cosmetic impact on the game as a whole.
This is just the latest in a list of confrontational issues Nintendo seems to be having with the Super Smash Bros. fandom. As we mentioned before, a Super Smash Bros. Melee tournament was shut down by the company. This event was being held by The Big House, and it is one of the largest annual Super Smash Bros. tournaments in the world.
Nintendo’s issue stemmed from the tournament’s use of the mod system Slippi. This was necessary due to the tournament being online only as a result of COVID-19. Since Melee doesn’t have online support, the company used Slippi to make it possible to play. That’s when Nintendo struck, taking down the entire event, including the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate portion.
But now, Nintendo appears to be unleashed fully. One could understand the issue that the company took regaring the use of Slippi, but now they’re striking down videos from mods that don’t require emulated copies of their games.
This was confirmed by a Super Smash Bros. modder by the name of AnimalTV on Twitter.
Nintendo has taken down multiple modding videos that really have no reason to be taken down, like 64ios or Mastaklo's goku video, they are attacking mods for Ultimate now, please just let us have something we paid for this game you're not losing money. https://t.co/X3wN35ifiv pic.twitter.com/aOz9UICEuq
— Circarus | Clown Vtuber (@CircarusYT) November 27, 2020
The company is turning to Content ID to issue a copyright claim on these videos, impacting several well known users. While typically, a company might allow a video like this to remain with no option for monetization, they are removing the videos and issuing copyright claims on YouTube against the creators.
The majority of these issues were mods that impacted the game on a cosmetic level. One, for instance, replaced Terry Bogard with Dragon Ball’s Son Goku. Another added Super Mario Odyssey costumes onto Mario.
While Nintendo is within its rights to protect its intellectual property, it seems to be trying to suppress an organic fan community that legally purchased their game and is not profiting off of it. The optics of such a move don’t shine a very positive light on the company.
