UK university esports body NSE (National Student Esports) and Nintendo UK have teamed up to announce a partnership around new Switch game Mario Strikers: Battle League Football.
University students in the UK will have access to a range of Mario Strikers activities, including in-person tournaments across the country, as well as Nintendo UK supported online community events over the next year.
NSE will launch the Mario Strikers: Battle League Football University Circuit to the student community, which will see regional events in October hosted at several different universities across the country.
University teams will compete four vs four and winners of the regional tournaments will then progress to a live final in December, where one university team will be crowned the champion.
Sign-ups for the Mario Strikers: Battle League Football University Circuit will be open to UK university students in September, with events happening from October onwards.
Those who attend the Circuit will be able to play other Nintendo Switch titles such as Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Super Smash Bros Ultimate whilst also taking part in the tournament.
NSE previously worked with Nintendo UK in 2019 to deliver a series of Super Smash Bros Ultimate university tournaments throughout the UK.
To appeal to the wider gaming community, in 2020 NSE also created its own series of Animal Crossing: New Horizons activities and events to provide online social interaction while most of the community was in lockdown. NSE says its Animal Crossing community remains very active today.
“Nintendo’s continuing mission is to create unique entertainment that puts smiles on the faces of people all over the world and we feel that connecting with grassroots groups such as NSE is a great way to do this.”
Kalpesh Tailor, Nintendo UK
As part of NSE’s regular tournament offering which takes place across the Winter and Spring terms, NSE will continue to run several Super Smash Bros Ultimate tournaments and other online student community events based on a variety of Nintendo Switch games including Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Nintendo Switch Sports. More details on those activities will be revealed in the coming months.
There are also Smash Bros tournaments at a school level in the UK, with UK games industry trade body Ukie’s Digital Schoolhouse education initiative hosting esports tournaments in this title.
Back in April, the most recent finals took place at the Gfinity Arena in London, with Norton College winning that Digital Schoolhouse Smash Bros tournament.
Nintendo has historically not got involved much at the higher tier of esports (other than its partnership with Panda Global), with many Smash Bros events being held independently, but has instead got more involved at the student/grassroots level.
Sam Hibbert, business director at NSE, said: “This is a great chance to bring the university community together, in-person and online with community events, around Nintendo’s recently released title; Mario Strikers: Battle League Football. Nintendo UK recognises how important grassroots communities are and we’re thrilled to have their support for this activity. The NSE team also can’t wait to hold more in-person events at universities after being without them for so long.”
Kalpesh Tailor, head of communications at Nintendo UK, added: “We’re delighted to support NSE again and bring a wider range of Nintendo Switch activities to university students, offering more opportunities for the wider student gaming community to engage with.
“Nintendo’s continuing mission is to create unique entertainment that puts smiles on the faces of people all over the world and we feel that connecting with grassroots groups such as NSE is a great way to do this.”
Related article: Twickenham Stadium will host the UK’s biggest Smash Bros Ultimate tournament of the year, Boss Battles: Phase 1.
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
