Nintendo Cancels Japanese Esports Events Following Threats to Staff and Spectators [IGN]

Nintendo has cancelled Nintendo Live 2024 Tokyo and postponed other Japanese esports events after persistent threats were made to both staff and spectators.

A Japanese press release, shared by reliable translator Genki on X/Twitter, revealed the “all ages celebration of Nintendo fun”, which took place in the United States for the first time in 2023, has been cancelled and its main esports tournaments postponed.

Nintendo said its employees have received relentless threats which have also recently targeted spectators, attendees, and staff at Nintendo Live 2024, forcing the cancellation in the interest of safety. It was due to take place from January 20 to 21.

Nintendo Live 2024 Tokyo has been cancelled due to threats received at Nintendo

– Threats made against Nintendo staff and spectators
– Event was due to take place at Tokyo Big Sight in Jan 2024
– Splatoon & Mario Kart tournaments have been postponedhttps://t.co/Wjjng4qPuA pic.twitter.com/fp8CRlxtO7

— Genki✨ (@Genki_JPN) December 7, 2023

The Splatoon Koshien 2023 National Finals, which was due to take place in December 2023, has also been postponed. The events scheduled for Nintendo Live 2024 — the Splatoon 3 World Championship 2024, the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Online Challenge Final Stage, and the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe World Championship 2024 — have obviously been postponed too, all to an undetermined date.

Nintendo apologised for any inconvenience caused and thanked fans for their understanding.

The 2023 event, which took place in September in Seattle, Washington featured myriad fan-centric celebrations including opportunities to play incoming Switch games, complete in tournaments, take photos with characters, watch live stage performances, and more.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.