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Smash World Tour features $250k prize pool, Melee & Ultimate, & Apex 2020

At least 25 Super Smash Bros Melee and Ultimate events will play host to the newly announced Smash World Tour and a $250k prize pool, including the return of Apex 2020.

TJ Denzer

March 2, 2020 1:41 PM

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The Super Smash Bros competitive scene deserved a world tour. It should have had to be said outright, but while games like TEKKEN, Street Fighter, and Dragon Ball FighterZ were doing it, Smash Bros was left in the dark without any major victory road to call its own. Now, after years of being one of the most amazingly contested scenes in all of competitive gaming, it’s about to get the love it deserves. The Smash World Tour has been announced, boasting a $250,000 prize pool, over 25 qualifying events, and the return of Apex, with Apex 2020 as a major stop on the tour.

VGBootCamp announced the Smash World Tour 2020 in partnership with Twitch and Smash.gg on March 2, 2020. One of the largest livestream broadcasters of competitive Smash Bros events, VGBootCamp is aiming to bring the scene together around a worldwide series featuring a point system, qualifying Melee, Smash, and hybrid events, and a Last Chance Qualifier event similar to other world towers. It will all lead up to the Smash World Tour Championships that will pit the 32 greatest players Smash Bros Melee and Ultimate in the race against one another in a final tournament to become Smash World Tour Champion.

Notable events already on the ledger for the Smash World Tour will include CEO Dreamland in mid-March, Glitch: Ultimate in September, and Apex 2020 in November. Notably, this marks the return of Apex as a major event, which hasn’t occurred since 2016. Other events have already been confirmed in Europe, including Colossel 2020 in Lyon, France and Fête 2020 in Stoke-on-Trent, UK, and further events are expected to be confirmed in Japan, Mexico, and more.

It’s been a long time coming for Smash to get its own tour. Nintendo has been largely quiet on the matter due in part to strict laws prohibiting esports in Japan (which almost led to EVO Japan’s Smash prize being only a special Nintendo Switch Pro Controller), which has left it largely in the hands of fans and other organizations to pick up the slack. With the Smash World Tour, Smash Bros competitive finally has a tour to call its own with a reward worth the chase.

Be sure to check out the Smash World Tour schedule for a full list of confirmed events and the Smash World Tour Smash.gg page for more details on how to get involved. May the best players win.

TJ Denzer

Senior News Editor

TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com and also find him on Twitter @JohnnyChugs.