- The event will be held in Massachusetts from August 25 to 27
- It’s closing down due to mounting financial pressures
- Shine’s closure is a symptom of a wider crisis in competitive Smash
Ever since Nintendo canceled the entire 2023 competitive Smash circuit, many events have been ceasing operations, and fans will soon lose Shine as well.
Shine Is Organizing Its Final Event
The Smash community has been seeing quite a few problems in recent months, and it seems like it is going to lose yet another classic tournament due to financial problems. Shine has been one of the mainstay organizers of Smash tournaments, hosting its first event in 2016 for 64, Melee, Wii U, and Ultimate. However, when Shine announced the dates for its 2023 competition, it also stated that this is going to be the last iteration of the tournament.
The organization explained in follow-up posts why this is the case, and it all seems to boil down to financial difficulties. Over the past years, the tournament has received monetary support from TOs running the event. Despite that, the event is ultimately still 10k+ in debt to a few remaining hired staff.
Because of this difficult financial situation, Shine plans to gather funds for its 2023 iteration through the sale of a merch drive later in April. The organizers also said that they will provide a detailed fiscal roadmap of Shine’s costs, giving full transparency to all of the setup and operations.
Competitive Smash Has a Growing Problem
Shine’s announcement is yet another symptom that the Smash scene overall is struggling. Ever since Nintendo canceled the 2022 Smash World Tour Championships and the entire 2023 competitive circuit, other events have also started struggling even more. Glitch: Duel of the Fates and Double Down 2023 have also been affected by Nintendo’s cancellation. VGBootCamp, the organization running both of the events, stated their uncertainty about running any future events due to monetary problems.
Other tournament organizers resorted to different methods to finance their events. This is what popular streamer Ludwig did when he organized his Scuffed World Tour after Nintendo made their controversial announcement last year. Ludwig and Mogul Moves created the Scuffed World Tour, raising over $26 500 in donations for VGBC, helping the organization stay in the Smash scene for a time.
Not all organizations have been so fortunate, however. One of the biggest Smash tournament organizers, Beyond the Summit, had to close all of its operations after 11 years due to a worsening financial situation. Smash Summit 6 2023, a four-day Ultimate event held from March 23 to 26, was the last tournament hosted by the org. David “LD” Gorman, co-founder of Beyond the Summit, summarized the reasons for the financial instability of the organization in a series of Twitter posts.
Going back to Shine 2023, its last iteration is going to be held from August 25 to 27, 2023, with early registration for the tournament opening later this month. With previous Shine events hosting more than 900 participants, it would not be surprising if even more players come to send off the last Shine tournament.
