Super Smash Bros Ultimate on Nintendo Switch

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Mod Videos Taken Down By Nintendo

Nintendo tightens its grip on the Smash Bros. series by removing popular videos featuring mods created for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

The creation of mods are an impressive part of the gaming community, as players can add extra content, fix glaring bugs, and even offer visual enhancements, like with a recent Skyrim mod on the Xbox Series X. Nintendo, however, has instead sought to tamper down on mods for their games, most recently with Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

Nintendo and the Super Smash Bros. community have rarely seen eye-to-eye, especially with a recent controversy surrounding Nintendo's issuing of a cease and desist for The Big House, a massive online Super Smash Bros. tournament featuring Super Smash Bros. Melee. This controversy began when Nintendo argued that the use of Slippi, a mod that allows for online play in the GameCube game Super Smash Bros. Melee, hurt its branding and leaves room for people to pirate Nintendo games. However, Nintendo has not offered another way to purchase Super Smash Bros. Melee.

This seemingly harsh treatment of Smash Bros. fans has led to many competitive gamers protesting Nintendo's actions via Twitter with the hashtags "Free Melee" and "Save Smash." If that wasn't enough to get fans riled up, a Smash Bros. modder named AnimalTV has reported on Twitter that a series of YouTube videos have received copyright strikes by Nintendo for showcasing mods using Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. A few of these videos contain purely cosmetic mods like adding new skins for Mario, or replacing Terry Bogard with Goku, yet they have apparently fallen victim to Nintendo's strict grasp over its intellectual property.

These modders do not actively encourage piracy, or even change Super Smash Bros Ultimate's engine or mechanics in many cases. A lot of mods are cosmetic, and meant for fans to spice up their game with new costumes or a new character model. This attempt to control everything related to Super Smash Bros. will likely not impact the piracy issue, and may lead to more people resenting the developer for its actions.

One has to wonder what Nintendo is trying to do by clamping down on the fans who, for all intents and purposes, are supporting Nintendo. Super Smash Bros. is an important piece of the competitive gaming scene, even so far as getting multiple documentaries made about the competitive Melee scene.

However, fans must keep in mind that the competitive scene is rather small compared to the amount of people playing Smash Bros. The protests will likely continue, but it will take a lot more work to put a dent in Nintendo's continued, massive success as a developer.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is available now on Nintendo Switch