A week ago, everyone in the Super Smash Brothers community expressed their outrage against Panda Gaming and Nintendo. This backlash came after it was announced that the Smash World Tour was cancelled. In their announcement post, the SWT organizers claimed that Panda Gaming CEO Alan “Dr.Alan” Bunney tried to coerce tournament organizers to join his Panda Cup instead of the SWT.

It wasn't surprising, then, when there was severe backlash against Alan Bunney and Panda Gaming. The fact that many organizers in the Smash scene was damning evidence, as well. Bunney remained silent about the whole situation until Sunday night. He has now announced that he will be stepping down as CEO of Panda Gaming, and he will release a counter-statement in the following days.

Why did Alan Bunney step down from Panda Gaming?

The allegations lobbied against Alan Bunney were pretty serious, all things considered. To recap, Panda Gaming's Panda Cup was officially licensed by Nintendo, while the SWT was not. However, the expectation amongst the Smash community was that the SWT would continue, as Nintendo almost always turned a blind eye to the competitive scene. In fact, many big tournaments ran without a license from the creators of Smash Melee and Ultimate.

However, Alan Bunney apparently tried to weaponize his company's Nintendo license to control the Smash scene. The ex-Panda Gaming CEO tried to scare off organizers by saying that the SWT would be shut down. Bunney also threatened Beyond The Summit to get broadcasting rights for tournaments. This claim was corroborated by members of BTS, as well as Panda Gaming's recent statement.

Because of that, Bunney was widely criticized by the Smash community for his actions. Many deemed his efforts harmful to the tight-knit network built over two decades. In addition, many Panda Gaming members (both esports players and staff) left the company. Many cited Bunney's alleged actions as the reason for their departure. It's easy to see why they left: most, if not all of their members had their roots in Smash.

It just wasn't feasible for Panda Gaming to keep Alan Bunney around. Because of that, he stepped down from his post as the CEO. However, Bunney isn't going down without a fight.

Bunney set to address the allegations against him

In his latest Tweet, Alan Bunney announced his resignation as the CEO of Panda Gaming. Interestingly, though, that same tweet revealed what his next moves are going to be with regards to the drama.

Alan Bunney is making his counter-statement with regards to the allegations lobbied against him. Included is his tweet is an image with a couple of bullet points: “SWT lied” and “BTS community put the community in jeopardy”. Those are certainly fighting words coming from the ex-CEO of Panda Gaming.

Instead of apologizing for his actions, Alan Bunney is fighting back with fire, which is an interesting move. The majority of the Smash Scene loathes the ex-Panda Gaming CEO right now to a massive degree. What's worse for Bunney is that there are multiple stories from different people revealing that his threatening actions were widespread. It's hard, if not impossible, for Bunney to redeem himself in the eyes of many Smash players.

Still, his statement is going to be interesting to read, especially since Bunney claims he has “evidence” to back up his claims. Hearing both sides of the argument will most likely lead to the truth of what exactly happened. His initial statement certainly doesn't make him a saint in the Smash Community though.

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Aftermath of SWT's shutdown for Panda Gaming

We've already mentioned that many of Panda Gaming's players (including top contenders such as Cody “iBDW” Schwab and Justin “Plup” McGrath) have left their team. However, they weren't the only Smash players to protest against Bunney's actions. Many Melee players scheduled to compete in the Panda Cup Finals have decided to drop out of the tournament. A Twitter user named @EdTheRaptor compiled a list of dropouts, which was 20 players out of the 28-player pool.

Stars such as Juan “Hungrybox” DeBiedma, Joseph “Mang0” Marquez, William Peter “Leffen” Hjelte, and Zain “Zain” Naghmi decided to boycott the Panda Cup Finals. As a result, Panda Gaming postponed the tournament. However, their reason for postponing was due to “safety concerns”, and not the amount of players that dropped out of the Finals.

Alan Bunney's upcoming statement will most likely be picked apart by the Smash community. Unless the ex-Panda Gaming CEO provides unequivocal proof for his claims, though, he will most likely remain a villian in the minds of the players, fans, and tournament organizers.