The title of Team Jackpot, the 2024 Splatoon 3 World Championship-winning team, has been formally revoked by Nintendo following accusations of inappropriate behavior towards several team members.
“It has come to our attention that some members of Team Jackpot, who recently won the Splatoon 3 World Championship, have been engaging in behavior that violates our Community Guidelines while playing Splatoon 3,” the official Nintendo Versus account wrote. he said in a statement via X“As a result, Team Jackpot’s win will be deemed void and the team will not be awarded any trophies associated with the event.”
The decision comes roughly three months after the team won the World Championship in April. Jackpot’s roster consists of four players: Leafi, .q, Jared, and Madness. Adaptability, another competitive Splatoon player, shared thread on X in June Documenting instances of Jackpot members using racist language. Screenshots and clips appear to show moments where Jackpot members used racial slurs in Discord chats and on X posts, as well as clips of team members using racial slurs to refer to other players during streams.
One of the team members, .q, shared long statement via Google Docs June 13The letter, titled “Resolution of Certain Issues,” responded to the allegations and apologized for the band members’ behavior.
“I want to formally apologize for not holding my friends accountable. I didn’t know Madness or speak to Jared at the time they took the screenshots, but I have spoken to Leafi since her screenshots and it is entirely my fault for not stepping up and telling her what was right and wrong. The gravity of what everyone said is too much for words; it’s disgusting, horrible, something I never expected to see.”
Polygon has reached out to Leafi and Jared for further comment. The X for Madness account had been deactivated at the time of publication. Polygon will update this article when we hear back.
It’s not just that a team’s victory will be “forgotten.” After the victory, Nintendo added a custom cosmetic item in the game to commemorate the winning team. It was a Splashtag banner that presented the team’s characters at the championshipNintendo has announced that this element will be fixed in an upcoming patch.
“Additionally, the in-game Splashtag banner commemorating their victory will be adjusted via an upcoming software update. Nintendo cares deeply about our players and our community, and we take our responsibility to uphold our Community Guidelines seriously.”
Polygon has also reached out to Nintendo for comment. We’ll update this story once we hear back.