North American scholastic esports platform PlayVS has renewed its partnership with Nintendo of America.
As a result, the two parties have expanded their offerings to middle schools alongside high school competitions across the United States and Canada.
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Nintendo of America will allow PlayVS to provide students in grades six to 12 with access to esports competitions in Splatoon 3, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, including championship events. In addition to providing its IPs, Nintendo of America will continue to provide its games and hardware to schools for free.
PlayVS has partnered with Nintendo of America since May 2021. According to a release, the platform has operated ‘over 73,000 matches featuring 10,500 teams representing all 50 states’ in the past three years.
In recent months, PlayVS has cemented itself as one of the largest scholastic esports platforms in North America. In March 2024, the platform confirmed its expansion into middle schools ahead of the Fall season in addition to securing a deal with education provider Stiegler EdTech.
Nintendo is no stranger to supporting grassroots esports initiatives across the world. In February 2023, the publisher joined forces with National Student Esports (NSE) to launch Splatoon 3 tournaments for students studying at UK universities.
Jon Chapman, CEO of PlayVS, spoke on the news: “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.
“The featured Nintendo Switch games are immensely popular, and we’re excited to expand them into middle schools starting this Fall. We are incredibly honoured by our partnership with Nintendo of America as they continue providing exceptional gaming experiences and resources to our growing community.”
