ESAM & Marss leave Panda Global, marking last Smash pro players to exit organization
As the Smash World Tour and Panda Cup scandals that rocked Panda Global late in 2022 continue to unravel, its last two Smash Bros. competitors have exited.
The last two Smash Bros. pro players at Panda Global exited for good this last week, marking the official end of the esports organization’s stable of players in the Smash scene for now. Competitive Super Smash Bros. fans may recall late last year when a scandal between Panda Global’s Panda Cup and the Smash World Tour caused both events to be canceled as Panda faced a wave of allegations. While several statements have been made since, Eric “ESAM” Lew and Tyler “Marss” Martins officially announced their exit from Panda Global over the weekend.
ESAM and Marss officially announced their exits from Panda Global via their personal Twitters, with ESAM announcing on January 15 and Marss announcing on January 16, 2023. Both players were the last holdouts on a Panda Global Smash Bros. stable that included the two of them, plus Justin “Plup” McGrath, Cody "iBDW" Schwab, and Chris "WaDi" Boston. Plup, iBDW, and WaDi had previously announced their exit from Panda Global last year, closer to when allegations against the organization came out. They were joined by non-Smash Bros. competitors Ryan "Saint Cola" Collins, Zak "Coney" Zeeks, Terrence "TKbreezy" Kershaw, and Victor “Punk” Woodley.
Source: Twitter
With ESAM and Marss exit from Panda Global, the organization officially has no notable active players in the Smash Bros. competitive scene (or at least none according to its Smash roster webpage). Panda Global has been under fire for some time, especially regarding it former CEO, Dr. Alan Bunney, who was accused of attempting to strongarm and bully Smash competitive events into signing up with the previously planned Panda Cup tour and avoiding the Smash World Tour. Despite stepping down as CEO, Bunney has been vocal in refuting allegations against him, even going as far as to make claims that it was key players at the Smash World Tour, Beyond the Summit, and even Video Game Bootcamp that tried to sabotage Panda Global.
Even so, both the Panda Cup and Smash World Tour finales have been postponed indefinitely at this point with no word on a return at this time. Marss and ESAM were two of the highest-profile players in Panda Global, and the last two holdouts of its Smash roster. With their exit, no matter who was right or wrong, it looks like the damage is done. Panda Global is seemingly completely out of the Smash competitive scene for the time being.
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replyTJ Denzer posted a new article, ESAM & Marss leave Panda Global, marking last Smash pro players to exit organization
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lmao
nintendo makes some of the dumbest decisions
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