Riptide is approaching. Previously known as Smash N Splash, Riptide is a 3-day convention featuring tournaments for Super Smash Bros., Rivals of Aether, and Splatoon 2 at the combo hotel/water park Kalahari Resort in Sandusky, Ohio. It's a major destination for competitive Super Smash Bros. fans. Few look forward to it as much as fans of Super Smash Bros. Brawl mod Project+, however. Riptide's hosted tournaments for Project+ (or rather its predecessor Project M) for years. Unfortunately, it seems Nintendo has had enough and has forced the Project+ tournament's cancellation.
In a message shared on Twitter, Riptide confirmed that Nintendo of America had contacted the convention about its planned tournament and events for Project+. What Nintendo said in this conversation isn't confirmed, but Riptide says that as a result of the conversation all Project+ events at Riptide had been canceled. Further, Riptide will no longer be providing stations at the convention where Project+ will be playable casually.
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Nintendo has not officially commented on the matter and likely won't in a public capacity. This isn't abnormal for Nintendo, however, as the company aggressively targets fan projects revolving around Nintendo IP. It's unclear why Nintendo chose 2021 to shut down the Project+ tournament at Riptide, as it has allowed Project M tournaments annually at Smash N Splash going back through 2015.
To be clear, Riptide is still moving forward with the majority of its planned tournaments. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Super Smash Bros. Melee, Rivals of Aether, and Splatoon 2 tournaments remain scheduled. It's only Riptide's plans surrounding Project+ that have been canceled, and it was likely only done so to ensure that the other tournaments could go on with official support.
For those unfamiliar, Project+ is an overhaul mod for Super Smash Bros. Brawl expanding on the Project M mod. Project M development ended in 2015, so Project+ was started by those who wanted to continue building on the idea of creating a custom, finely tuned Super Smash Bros. experience. The first Project+ Riptide tournament was originally planned for 2020, but was canceled due to the then-flourishing COVID-19 pandemic.
Obviously, many involved with Riptide and the competitive Super Smash Bros. scene is disappointed with this news. Riptide is going to be reaching out to convention attendees registered for Project+ events and will be offering refunds as necessary. Odds are the community will do its best to make up for the situation and will host unofficial side-tournaments as they're able, so that Riptide can avoid drawing Nintendo's ire any more than it already has.
Riptide runs from September 10-12.