Panda Cup Final is also in jeopardy with many contestants withdrawing from the event
Competitive Super Smash Bros. The community is very different from just a week ago and this now includes one of the largest esports organizations attached to the scene.
Follow First statement from Panda Global regarding the discussions around Cancellation of Smash World Tour and behind-the-scenes ops, Smash, and the wider fighting game community, over 80% of Panda players and commentators seem to have resigned from the team by now.
At the time of reporting, top Melee competitors Cody “iBDW” Schwab and Justin “Plup” McGrath, as well as Chris “WaDi” Boston, Ryan “Saint Cola” Collins, Zak “Coney” Zeeks, Terrence “TKbreezy” Kershaw, Marine and Victoria “VikkiKitty” Perez has made public their resignation or their intention to resign.
“I’m quitting Panda,” Plup wrote on Twitter. “I really enjoyed my time there and they treated me well. I know that at a certain point they had the interests of the community in mind. I don’t think I can support them anymore. I have to sleep now. It’s 1,000 years to prepare for the next tournament.”
It’s been about 4 months and I’m happy with the work done at that time and the people I worked with and had the chance to learn more about. I’m not sure what the future will bring, but I know I will always find a way.
— TKbreezy 🎙 (@TKbreezy) December 3, 2022
This exit from the company has already dropped Panda’s onscreen talent list; More than half endorsed by other names, including Justin Wong, Victor “Punk” Woodley, Keenan “Kizzie Kay” Kizzie, Eduardo “HookGangGod” Deno, and Little Z. Although they have not made an official announcement yet, Panda from their Twitter page.
The monumental backlash came in the wake of the Smash World Tour announcing the 2022 championship, and the entire 2023 season will have to be canceled after Nintendo rejected the licensing deal.
SWT organizers accused Panda and its CEO, Alan Bunney, of inappropriate behavior in their attempt to hold major tournaments for their own Panda Cup, which was officially licensed by Nintendo.
Panda’s response to the allegations came 3 days later, but did little to quell backlash from the Smash community and beyond.
I will not participate in the Panda Cup.
Too little and too late. https://t.co/902CEl9VQe
— open box 🏆🏆🏆 (@LiquidHbox) December 2, 2022
Liquid|Hungrybox, CLG|SFAT, Tempo|Axe, LG|Maister, Liquid|Dabuz, BC|Magi, Furia| Fatality, GG|Zain, VGBC|aMSa, C9|Mang0, Fiction, GG|n0ne, Wizzrobe, T1|MkLeo, CG|Medz, Pipsqueak, FLY|KoDoRiN, LUM|Ginger and CG|Eddy Mexico.
The Panda Cup Final has not been canceled and is currently scheduled for December 16-18, but you usually need players to participate in a tournament.
Similarly, this puts the future of the Panda eSports organization in great jeopardy, considering that their non-FGC talent roster currently consists of only 1 chess player, according to their website.
To make up for the cancellation of the Smash World Tour 2022 Championships, popular broadcaster Ludwig announced his intention to host “The Scuffed World Tour” on December 18 by inviting the top 8 SWT competitors from Smash Ultimate and Melee. Raising money to help VGBC and players.
These are the 8 people I will invite from each game – if no one can participate we will fly the next highest score winner
We are also happy to provide a total prize pool of $50,000 for the event.
Hope this is worth the players’ time! pic.twitter.com/NF4psOMlMD
– ludwig (@LudwigAhgren) December 2, 2022
Since its inception in 2015, Panda has quickly grown into one of the largest and most successful esports organizations, with a growing roster of players, commentators, content creators, streamers, stats trackers and influencers based around Smash and FGC.
However, in the current situation it will likely be difficult to recover from the mass resignation of staff and the perceived damage/broken trust in community relations.
