Nintendo of America’s Reggie Fils-Aime has reaffirmed that they will continue to be “close to the eSports space,” sharing how the company has been encouraged at how much the community has embraced Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, Mario Kart 8, and Splatoon.
“We saw success last year with the Smash Bros. Invitational, and Smash Bros. has always been a game in the eSports community,” Fils-Aime explained to Fortune.
“What we’re really gratified to see is that the community has now embraced Super Smash Bros. for Wii U because it has the speed and customisation they like. We’re also seeing them embrace Mario Kart 8, as well as Splatoon, in a competitive environment. We’ve always been close to the eSports space and will continue to be.”
Nintendo were particularly pleased with how well the Nintendo World Championships has performed on its return after 25 years silence, with the event reportedly viewed more than five million times over the first four days since it was broadcast live.
“We’re fortunate that we’ve got the range of content to pull it off in the here and now, and we’re really gratified to see the reactions,” Fils-Aime added. “All of that is going to go into the mix as we think about proper opportunities, future E3s as well as potentially taking the idea outside of E3. So it’s something we’re going to be looking at really hard.”
