Nintendo Partners With PlayVS to Bring Competitive Fun to High School Varsity Athletics Across the U.S. and Canada

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and Splatoon 2 Will Be Added to PlayVS High School Leagues in Fall 2021

REDMOND, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nintendo and PlayVS today announced a partnership that will make the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and Splatoon 2 games for the Nintendo Switch system officially recognized varsity athletics at participating high schools. As the only scholastic competitive gameplay platform that qualifies as sanctioned high school athletics in the U.S. and Canada, PlayVS is the premier provider for students in the ever-growing world of competitive gaming. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and Splatoon 2 will be added to the official PlayVS lineup for the Fall 2021 High School season, allowing high school teams around the country to compete against each other in online matches when the season kicks off on Sept. 20. The Mario Kart 8 Deluxe game will join the PlayVS roster for the Spring 2022 High School season early next year.

Through this partnership with Nintendo and PlayVS’s exclusive partnership with state and national high school athletic associations, high school players can now compete in officially sanctioned high school Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Splatoon 2 and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe matches. Additionally, PlayVS and Nintendo will provide a Nintendo Switch system to hundreds of select qualifying schools that compete in a PlayVS Nintendo title league this 2021-2022 school year. Three thousand select qualifying schools will each receive either the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate or Splatoon 2 game and a 12-month Nintendo Switch Online individual membership. Qualification details will be shared at a later date.

Schools can check with their respective state athletic associations to see which games will be available for their state leagues this fall. High school coaches interested in having their teams join the next season of varsity gaming competitions can join the waitlist and find more information at https://www.playvs.com/news/nintendo-games-are-here.

“We know there are many Nintendo fans with incredible gaming talent who are looking for more ways to explore competitive play and participate in tournaments,” said Bill Trinen, Nintendo of America’s Senior Director of Product Marketing. “Working with a community-focused organization like PlayVS is an important next step as Nintendo expands our support for competitive play and helps more players explore gaming in a competitive space. High school students from all around the country will be able to put their skills to the test in Nintendo Switch games in a competitive setting – and hopefully make some awesome memories along the way.”

“Partnering with Nintendo and offering our players a selection of titles from its legendary roster of games is something I’ve wanted to do since I started PlayVS,” said Delane Parnell, Founder and CEO of PlayVS. “It’s a privilege to work alongside such an iconic company like Nintendo. We take great pride in being able to offer competitive Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Splatoon 2 and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe to our community. This partnership ensures that high school students now have an official path to competitive play for these immensely popular games.”

For more information about PlayVS, visit https://www.playvs.com/. For more information about Nintendo Switch, visit https://www.nintendo.com/switch/.

About Nintendo: Nintendo Co., Ltd., headquartered in Kyoto, Japan, has created franchises that have become household names worldwide, including Mario™, Donkey Kong™, The Legend of Zelda™, Metroid™, Pokémon™, Animal Crossing™, Pikmin™ and Splatoon™, through its integrated hardware and software products. Nintendo aims to deliver unique, intuitive entertainment experiences for everyone, manufacturing and marketing video game devices such as the Nintendo Switch™ family of systems, developing and operating applications for smart devices, and collaborating with partners on a range of other entertainment initiatives like visual content and theme parks. Nintendo has sold more than 5 billion video games and over 790 million hardware units globally. From the launch of the Nintendo Entertainment System™ more than 30 years ago, through today and into the future, Nintendo’s continuing mission is to create unique entertainment that puts smiles on the faces of people all over the world. A wholly owned subsidiary, Nintendo of America Inc., based in Redmond, Wash., serves as headquarters for Nintendo’s operations in the Americas. For more information about Nintendo, please visit the company’s website at https://www.nintendo.com/.

About PlayVS: PlayVS is the leading amateur esports platform in the United States and Canada for High School, Youth and Collegiate competitions and leagues. It is the single community where players come together to compete, fans gather to spectate and coaches can manage their programs. Through strategic partnerships with the NFHS, 23 state associations and regional leagues nationwide, the PlayVS High School product allows students to compete for state and regional championships. Partnerships with top game publishers enable the PlayVS platform to power high school esports league play across the nation for League of Legends, Rocket League and more. PlayVS College operates official, national leagues for titles such as Fortnite, FIFA, Madden and more. Headquartered in Los Angeles, the company has raised more than $107 million since its founding in January 2018. For more information, visit www.playvs.com.

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