Nintendo revokes Splatoon championship title after winning team’s misconduct
Team Jackpot, the group that won the 2024 Splatoon 3 World Championship, has had its title officially stripped by Nintendo following allegations of misconduct against several team members.
“It has come to our attention that certain members of Team Jackpot, the team that recently won the Splatoon 3 World Championship, have been behaving in a manner that does not comply with our Community Guidelines while playing the Splatoon 3 game,” the official Nintendo Versus account said. said in a statement via X“As a result, Team Jackpot’s winnings will be considered void and the team will not receive any trophies related to the event.”
The decision comes about 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 a thread on X in June documenting instances where Jackpot members used racist language. The screenshots and clips appear to show instances where Jackpot members used racial slurs in Discord chats and posts on X, as well as clips of team members using racist, derogatory terms to talk about other players while streaming.
A member of the team, .q, shared a long explanation via google docs on June 13The letter, titled “Addressing Some Matters,” responded to the allegations and apologized for the behavior of team members.
“I want to formally apologize for not holding my friends accountable. I didn’t know Madness or speak to Jared when they took their screenshots, but I have spoken to Leafi since hers, and it is entirely my fault for not stepping forward to tell her what is right and wrong. The gravity of what everyone has said is too much to put into words; it is disgusting, horrific, something I never thought I would see.”
Polygon has reached out to Leafi and Jared for further comment. The X account for Madness was deactivated at the time of publication. Polygon will update the article if we hear back.
It’s not just that the team’s victory is “undone.” Following the victory, Nintendo added a custom, in-game cosmetic item to commemorate the winning team. It was a Splashtag banner that depicted the team’s characters during the championshipsNintendo has said that this item will now be adjusted in an upcoming patch.
“Additionally, the in-game Splashtag banner commemorating their victory will be updated 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 reached out to Nintendo for comment. We will update as soon as we have more information.