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Nintendo delays Super Smash Bros Ultimate Online Open May 2020 event

The latest of Nintendo's new Super Smash Bros Ultimate Online Open events will be pushed back due to current civil unrest and protests.

TJ Denzer

June 5, 2020 10:05 AM

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With protests against police brutality and wrongful deaths of victims like George Floyd at police hands, a lot of companies and event organizers have taken note of the situation and stepped back to support more important conversations in this critical time. Nintendo had a number of competitive tournaments underway, but it is taking steps back in respect to the matters at hand. The Super Smash Bros Ultimate Online Open May 2020 event schedule has been delayed until further notice.

Nintendo announced the delay of this weekend and further weekends of the Super Smash Bros Ultimate Online Open May 2020 tournament on the Nintendo Versus Twitter on June 5, 2020. The first weekend of the event had already taken place on May 30 and May 31 shortly after the Online Open was first announced. The next set of events was slated for this weekend of June 6 and June 7. It is unknown at this time if the following weekend events will remain to the same or be moved in the wake of this weekend’s delay.

In acknowledgement and out of respect to current events, we have decided to postpone this weekend's regional activity of the Super #SmashBrosUltimate Online Open May 2020 tournament. We will provide information on a new time for this event soon. pic.twitter.com/WegvOExsne

— Nintendo Versus (@NintendoVS) June 5, 2020

Say what you will about the fact that Nintendo put up DLC and game downloads as a prize for this series of Super Smash Bros Ultimate tournament events, but they have at least gone out of their way to do right in current events. Nintendo spoke out against George Floyd’s death and police brutality in support of the Black Lives Matter movement and rumor has it the company has done a bit more behind the scenes. The step back and clearing of space to make way for protests and demands for police accountability is arguably the right decision.

No news has been announced regarding the similar Splatoon 2 North American Open June 2020 tournament slated for June 14 and 21. Stay tuned as we await any updates or changes on that and the Super Smash Bros Ultimate Online Open May 2020 event schedule.

TJ Denzer

Senior News Editor

TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com and also find him on Twitter @JohnnyChugs.