A major live Nintendo event for early 2024 has been canceled following threats against attendees and staff, the company has announced, expunging world championship tournaments for games like Mario Kart 8 and Splatoon 3.
Nintendo Live is a big, almost E3-like event with tournaments, photo ops, live stage performances, and much more. Typically held in Japan, the soiree made its way to the U.S. for the first time in September 2023. The company had intended to run it again in Tokyo, Japan in January 2024, but persistent threats against everyone involved have caused Nintendo to swiftly pull the plug—at least for now.
In a press release partially translated by notable Japanese game news translator Genki, Nintendo Live 2024—originally slated to be held between January 20 and 21 at the Tokyo Big Sight exhibition center—was postponed to an unspecified date. The company didn’t detail the nature of the threats it received, but explained that everyone, from attendees and competitors to employees and spectators, has been targeted.
Citing their priority for safety, Nintendo has canceled the event. As a result, a few tournaments—the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Online Challenge Final Stage, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe World Championship 2024, and Splatoon 3 World Championship 2024—have all been postponed until Nintendo can determine new dates for them all.
The nature of the threats, nor where they have come from, isn’t detailed by Nintendo in their announcement, but they have apparently been “persistent,” and more recently have expanded beyond Nintendo staff to include participants and spectators.
Nintendo still plans to hold at least one tournament, the Splatoon Koshien 2023 National Finals, though that’s been moved from its original December 16 start date to December 7. The company apologized for the inconvenience.
Kotaku reached out to Nintendo for comment.