In April, the US team Jackpot won the Nintendo Splatoon 3 World Championship, earning an in-game appearance that cemented their status as the first players to be commemorated in a Splatoon game. However, after racist messages sent by the team surfaced in the months following the event, Nintendo announced that it would void the team’s victory and remove their likenesses from the game.
Today in post on X/TwitterNintendo Versus has announced that the Jackpot win will be voided and the team will not receive trophies due to violating the company’s community guidelines.
Splatoon 3 World Championship 2024 Update: photo:twitter.com/pYUMQzmj7S
— Nintendo Versus (@NintendoVS) July 23, 2024
Nintendo has also committed to adjusting the Splashtag (or in-game profile banner) that was added to the game to celebrate the Jackpot win. The change will likely remove the team’s characters from the banner and replace them with default characters.
Phantom Thief of the Heart, the Japanese team that played against Jackpot in the final, was not awarded the victory after the results were announced, resulting in the World Championship not having an official winner.
“Nintendo cares deeply about our players and our community. We take our responsibility to uphold our Community Guidelines seriously,” the post reads.
Nintendo’s move comes after racist messages from the team circulated online in early June. Videos and screenshots (which can be seen in this thread — warning for offensive language) show team members using racist slurs and phrases in Discord messages and calls, with some even sending targeted messages to other players.
Amelia Zollner is a freelance writer at IGN who loves all things indie and Nintendo. Outside of IGN, they have worked with sites like Polygon and Rock Paper Shotgun, and are currently developing a game called Garage sale. Find them on Twitter: @ameliazollner.
