CEO 2022 was first tournament in the Panda Cup, the first Super Smash Bros circuit officially-licensed by Nintendo, and despite having the blessing of the Japanese gaming behemoth, the prize pool left a lot to be desired.
On June 26, CEO 2022 wrapped up with Justin ‘Plup’ McGrath winning Melee while Carlos ‘Sonix’ Pérez won the Ultimate tournament after an impressive losers’ run.
However, despite Plup taking home just over $1,000 and Sonix earning a bit under $3,500, the rest of the prize pool left a lot to be desired with some even criticizing the top payout.
Juan ‘Hungrybox’ Debiedma’s fifth-place earnings, for instance, amounted to just $75 – something both he and other members of the community mocked.
someone teach me Brawlhalla
— hungrybox (@LiquidHbox) June 26, 2022
Smash players roast Nintendo’s tournament involvement
After posting a picture of his $75 earnings, with an “LOL” caption, other Smash players blasted Nintendo.
“Someone teach me Brawlhalla,” HBox joked, teasing competing in other fighting games with bigger prize pools.
“Damn dawg…can’t Nintendo just chime in with an extra $50k or something? That’s pocket money,” another said.
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What is the licensing even for??
— Tuffel (@Tuffel5) June 26, 2022
In another thread, users kept wondering why Panda would even partner with Nintendo if the company wouldn’t contribute to the prize pool.
“Nintendo involvement really paid off,” one sarcastically commented. “No guys, we are licensed by Nintendo now we are a REAL esport.”
No guys we are licensed by Nintendo now we are a REAL esport
— GoTE | RetroFluff @ CEO (@RetroFluff) June 26, 2022
The lack of involvemernt by Nintendo in Smash tournaments has been a major issue in the community for sometime now with the company pulling the game from tournaments and even offering up just a controller as a grand prize at EVO Japan.
While the payout for this event may have been low, the Panda Cup finale in December will have a $100,000 prize pool spread evenly between Ultimate and Melee, however, Nintendo has not contributed to the amount.
Hopefully, if the rest of the circuit proves to be successful, Nintendo may finally change its ways and support Smash in more ways than ever before.
