PlayVS and Nintendo of America Renew Partnership to Expand Competitive Play at the High School and Middle School Levels

The Super Smash Bros.^™ Ultimate, Splatoon^™ 3, and Mario Kart^™ 8 Deluxe games will continue to be key to PlayVS leagues across the U.S. and Canada

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 21, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- PlayVS, the leading competitive gameplay platform in North America, and Nintendo of America today announced the renewal and expansion of their partnership, building on three successful years of providing sanctioned high school competitive play. This new multi-year agreement will now also extend gaming opportunities to middle schools in addition to high schools across the U.S. and Canada.

Through this partnership with Nintendo of America, PlayVS provides students in grades 6-12 with the ability to compete in the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Splatoon 3, and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe games, including competing for official state-sanctioned high school championships. Schools are encouraged to check with their respective state associations to see which games will be available for their state leagues this upcoming Fall season.

Additionally, PlayVS and Nintendo of America will continue to provide Nintendo hardware and software free of charge to schools in need, ensuring broader participation in PlayVS-powered leagues featuring the Nintendo Switch system. Both Nintendo of America and PlayVS are deeply committed to increasing accessibility to competitive gaming, having already provided over $2.1 million in Nintendo equipment and games since 2021. In line with this commitment, PlayVS also announced in November 2023 that its platform will be completely free for students to compete, dramatically reducing the overhead cost of participation. This, alongside the renewal of the partnership, ensures that even more students can enjoy accessible competitive gaming with popular Nintendo Switch games, creating a more inclusive and widespread community.

Since the start of its partnership, PlayVS-powered leagues of Nintendo games have supported over 73,000 matches featuring 10,500 teams representing all 50 states, D.C. & Canada, and resulting in 253 championships. Over 70,000 students have already competed in Nintendo Switch with PlayVS, and the continued growth at the high school level and the expansion to students at the middle school level will enable increased access for even more students.

"The renewal of our partnership with Nintendo of America extends our mission of increasing accessibility to competitive play to even more students in North America," said Jon Chapman, CEO of PlayVS. "The featured Nintendo Switch games are immensely popular, and we're excited to expand them into middle schools starting this Fall. We are incredibly honored by our partnership with Nintendo of America as they continue providing exceptional gaming experiences and resources to our growing community."

Nintendo of America shares in this enthusiasm. "Working with PlayVS has helped us bring smiles to even more faces through organized team experiences – giving young people new ways to enjoy the fun and camaraderie of team competition with Nintendo Switch games while celebrating school spirit," said Bill Trinen, Vice President, Player & Product Experience at Nintendo of America. "We're excited about keeping this partnership going as we open doors to competitive play for future generations of players."

As this partnership continues, PlayVS and Nintendo of America are committed to collaborating on new initiatives and events aimed at further engaging the scholastic community and expanding their reach, creating more opportunities for students to engage in competitive gaming, develop valuable skills, and build lasting connections with their peers.

High school and middle school coaches interested in having their teams join the next season of competitive gaming can find more information at PlayVS.com.

For more information about PlayVS, visit https://www.playvs.com/. For more information about Nintendo's game offerings, please visit https://www.nintendo.com/.

About PlayVS
PlayVS (pronounced Play Versus) is North America's leading esports platform, on a mission to unlock the many benefits of esports for players everywhere. PlayVS offers a single community in which players, coaches, educators and parents come together to compete, connect and grow through the power of esports. PlayVS is the official high school esports partner to the NFHS Network, the Special Olympics and state and regional organizations in the U.S. and Canada that offer officially sanctioned scholastic esports leagues. To learn more about PlayVS, visit https://playvs.com/.

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 5.8 billion video games and over 850 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/.

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SOURCE PlayVS