With 2015 behind us and Genesis 3 right around the corner, let's take this time to recap all things Smash and Smashboards in 2015. Check here to see the recap from 2014. This offers a glimpse of the size of the Smash community with some data that has never before been publicly released. If you enjoy the site, there is no better time than now to check out our Premium membership benefits.
Overall, the health of the Smash community and Smashboards is near a all-time peak. There are now at least two Smash games that are being played every weekend at events in major cities around the World, and tens of thousands of players check Smashboards every day for news, discussion, strategy, guides, and in general to hang out with members of the community. There are over 5,000 posts per day on average with the site reaching nearly a million unique Smashers every month.
A huge thanks is owed to all of the moderators who help keep the site and community rolling. Check out the entire staff list here and if someone has helped you or the board you frequent, consider leaving them a thank you message.
Below is some information on the growth of the board in 2015:
2015 saw a continued expansion of the support for the community with event sponsorships, staff hotel help, stream sponsorships, video sponsorships, raffles for the staff, and more! in 2016, much will be the same with some new features and changes! One big one, as of October 2015, @Xiivi is now the SmashBoards General Manager. In addition, SmashBoards will be contributing $4,000 in funds as outlined below to help build and support the community.
In 2014, Smashboards launched the Smashboards Ranking System. Over the last 24 months, there has been an insane amount of activity and progress logged offering the closest thing to the most complete picture of the competitive Smash scene anywhere on the internet. When last reported a year ago, the ranking moderators had scoured the results, checked claims, and approved 3,242 tournament brackets with 92,953 total entrants. While that was impressive, one year later, the database has expanded to an astronomical 9,870 tournaments. While the database between 2014 and 2015 is very strong, more is continually being added and results going as far back as 2002 have been logged.
In addition to tracking results, the system received an update in 2015 to allow the tracking of tournament winnings. While some sites report on the largest tournaments, the SmashBoards ranking system covers the vast, vast number of grassroots events that make up the community. Based on our data from 2015, there have been $987,000 in prize money, an 89% increase from the 2014 total of $521,000. In the entire system, we've tracked $1,870,000 in prize money between all the Smash games.
Before diving into the data, a huge thanks is owed to everyone who has spent time working on the rankings. This represents the help of tons of organizers and nearly a dozen of the ranking moderators who are help check claims and sort through results. Help is always needed and if you are interested, check out this thread to apply and check this forum for questions.
Every bit helps, including making sure your organizer submits results and that you're tracking those results by claiming participation.
Entire Database (through January 5)
Total Logged Smash Tournaments: 9,870 (up 6,628)
Total Smash Prize Money: $1,869,864
Total Melee Tournaments: 3,674
Total Smash Wii U Tournaments: 3,057
2014 Total Smash Prize Money: $521,917
2015 Total Smash Prize Money: $987,223
2014 Total Smash Tournaments: 3,135
2015 Total Smash Tournaments: 6,192
2014 Total Smash Tournament Entrants: 84,553
2015 Total Smash Tournament Entrants: 175,407
Prize Money
2014 Melee Prize Money: $244,763
2015 Melee Prize Money: $344,598
2014 Smash Wii U Prize Money: $29,597
2015 Smash Wii U Prize Money: $491,402
Tournament Entrants (non-unique, live event only, NO ONLINE)
2014 Melee Tournament Entrants: 40,355
2015 Melee Tournament Entrants: 59,818
2014 Smash Wii U Tournament Entrants: 5,247
2015 Smash Wii U Tournament Entrants: 86,692
Total Tournaments (unique, live events only, NO ONLINE)
2014 Melee Total Tournaments: 1,390
2014 Melee Total Tournaments: 2,021
2014 Smash Wii U Total Tournaments: 196
2015 Smash Wii U Total Tournaments: 2,852
Current Rankings
Below are the current rankings for Super Smash Brothers Melee and Super Smash Brothers for Wii U. This represents the most data-driven ranking on the internet accounting for events large and small, everywhere, without bias toward player group or friends. Players max out at their top 10 best brackets in the last 12 months for the ranking system - which is why very strong players like PPMD are not rated in the top 10 (essentially lack of data with only 3 events on record from last 12 months). The information isn't perfect, but it is updated frequently, with each update improving the results and tracking. Due to its frequent, data-driven updates, it tracks players progress faster and more quickly than human voted polls and opinion lists.
A note on the earnings list - this is a recent feature with the most common missing element being prize bonuses. Still, since it tracks earnings even at local events, it is a solid gauge on measuring expected earnings, especially for players outside the top 5 who aren't earning the additional sums from large event bonuses.
Current Melee Rankings (6,604 players tracked)
Current Smash Wii U Rankings (5,292 players tracked)
2015 Melee Top 10 Ranking Year-end
1. Armada - $79,427.23 from 54 events
2. leffen - $29,900.49 from 36 events
3. hungrybox - $44,674.38 from 62 events
4. MaNg0 - $53,217.74 from 62 events
5. Mew2King - $41,906.39 from 121 events
6. WestBallz - $12,494.68 from 78 events
7. AXE 09 - $8,683.30 from 44 events
8. Pluplue - $10,694.41 from 79 events
9. Shroomed - $5,247.35 from 40 events
10. LuCKy - $3,061.02 from 62 events
16. Dr Peepee $24,386.25 from 27 events
2015 Smash Wii U Top 10 Rankings Year-end
1. TSM ZeRo - $33,114.25 from 37 events
2. Nairo - $15,060.55 from 41 events
3. Dabuz - $11,029.55 from 46 events
4. Mr-R $7,776.25 from 14 events
5. Mew2King - $3,155.85 from 21 events
6. [FBC] ESAM - $4,252.65 from 21 events
7. MVD - $2,910.00 from 35 events
8. Abadango - $1,338.30 from 18 events
9. DEHF - $7,262.45 from 59 events
10. AllyKnight - $7,218.70 from 41 events
Closing Thoughts
2015 was a huge year - Melee continued to grow, Super Smash Brothers for WIi U found its wings, and the community reached crazy new heights. With many new faces interested in the community, it is important to remember what makes the Smash community different from other eSports. Just about everything that is covered in this post - the prize money, the sponsorships, the support, the people - these are all being community funded (whether it is money, time, interest). Corporate sponsors and developer support represent under 10% of the entire Smash industry. This is extremely unique as most games that are considered eSports see millions in developer support.
The lack of corporate support means that the prize pools can't balloon to the heights of other games, but it also ensures that Smash is continuously played well past a typical games product life cycle. In this way, Smash is protected like almost no other game with a community that is entirely self-sustaining (only the cousins of the FGC have similar experience). Even the largest supporter of Smash at a corporate level, Twitch, ultimately facilitates this community-funded mindset with donations and subscriber support of your favorite Smash players.
2016 looks to be another blockbuster year, with the first episodes of Last Stock Legends getting released, potentially the release of Travis Beauchamp's "The Smash Brothers: Armada" movie at the end of 2016, and a slate of huge events starting with Genesis 3 January 15 - 17. If this is your first year as a Smasher, welcome, you are in for a wild ride, and no johns. The first tournament I attended was BOMB in Maryland in 2003. 12 years later I saw many of the same faces 2,000 miles away in Vegas at EVO 2015. I would have never guessed what was just a passing interest in a Nintendo game would turn into a lifelong passion. The Smash community is among the few in gaming (but not the only) that promotes and builds in person bonds. If you are a veteran, remember when going to events to take a moment to meet new people, catch up with old Smashers, and in general impart wisdom to the next generation. SmashBoards was founded over 16 years ago and at this point, the community is a generational ship, carrying us all from one edge guard to the next. 2015 saw events break new records, and for 2016 to continue that trend, everyone needs to do their part to promote friendly competition.
Thanks for Smashing,
-aZ
Overall, the health of the Smash community and Smashboards is near a all-time peak. There are now at least two Smash games that are being played every weekend at events in major cities around the World, and tens of thousands of players check Smashboards every day for news, discussion, strategy, guides, and in general to hang out with members of the community. There are over 5,000 posts per day on average with the site reaching nearly a million unique Smashers every month.
A huge thanks is owed to all of the moderators who help keep the site and community rolling. Check out the entire staff list here and if someone has helped you or the board you frequent, consider leaving them a thank you message.
Below is some information on the growth of the board in 2015:
- 220,000 members (+53,000 members)
- 18,750,000 posts database (+2,450,000 posts)
- Top 10 largest forum on Xenforo forum software, the second largest gaming-oriented behind only IGN)
- Current record for posts in a day: 17,476 (about 1 post every 5 seconds) on September 11, 2014
- 2015 top 3 posting days
- 12,856 on April 15, 2015
- 12,080 on June 14, 2015
- 11,672 on July 31, 2015
- Smashboards Facebook: 58,000 Likes (+12,000 likes)
- Smashboards Twitter: 41,000 Followers (+17,000 followers)
- Smashboards Twitch: 250 Followers (didn't really use this)
2015 saw a continued expansion of the support for the community with event sponsorships, staff hotel help, stream sponsorships, video sponsorships, raffles for the staff, and more! in 2016, much will be the same with some new features and changes! One big one, as of October 2015, @Xiivi is now the SmashBoards General Manager. In addition, SmashBoards will be contributing $4,000 in funds as outlined below to help build and support the community.
- $1,000 in funds for the Smashboards Wii U "4BR" Backroom to spend as the room leaders and membership determine (some exclusions apply like following the law and supporting Smash/Smashboards related activities)
- $1,000 in prizes for the Smashboards moderation raffle pool (2015 grand prize was a Nintendo 3DS Special Smash Edition)
- $2,000 in funds for the SmashBoards writer group to be used toward article bounties for those who are a part of the writer group
- @SmashCapps will transition to editor-in-chief of the SmashBoards writing team - a big thanks to @The Derrit who recently moved to a full time writing position with Red Bull eSports
- Apex 2015
- Beast 5
- CEO 2015
- HELIX 2015
- Paragon Orlando 2015
- Paragon Los Angeles 2015
- Smash the Record
- The Big House 5
- Fire and Dice Games SoCal Regional
- PAX Prime 2015 Panel: Inside the Smash Industry with Alphazealot, GIMR, Crimson Blur, and D1
- Even Match Up Gaming (video content)
- GeekyGoonSquad (video content)
- Clash Tournaments (video content)
- Video Game Bootcamp (EVO 2015 Salty Suite)
In 2014, Smashboards launched the Smashboards Ranking System. Over the last 24 months, there has been an insane amount of activity and progress logged offering the closest thing to the most complete picture of the competitive Smash scene anywhere on the internet. When last reported a year ago, the ranking moderators had scoured the results, checked claims, and approved 3,242 tournament brackets with 92,953 total entrants. While that was impressive, one year later, the database has expanded to an astronomical 9,870 tournaments. While the database between 2014 and 2015 is very strong, more is continually being added and results going as far back as 2002 have been logged.
In addition to tracking results, the system received an update in 2015 to allow the tracking of tournament winnings. While some sites report on the largest tournaments, the SmashBoards ranking system covers the vast, vast number of grassroots events that make up the community. Based on our data from 2015, there have been $987,000 in prize money, an 89% increase from the 2014 total of $521,000. In the entire system, we've tracked $1,870,000 in prize money between all the Smash games.
Before diving into the data, a huge thanks is owed to everyone who has spent time working on the rankings. This represents the help of tons of organizers and nearly a dozen of the ranking moderators who are help check claims and sort through results. Help is always needed and if you are interested, check out this thread to apply and check this forum for questions.
If you are interested in contributing to a project for the community, this is among the most expansive and ambitious in all of gaming. This project represents the most comprehensive historical record for the largest grassroots, live event-based, gaming community spanning back as far as 2002. Think about that.
Every bit helps, including making sure your organizer submits results and that you're tracking those results by claiming participation.
Entire Database (through January 5)
Total Logged Smash Tournaments: 9,870 (up 6,628)
Total Smash Prize Money: $1,869,864
Total Melee Tournaments: 3,674
Total Smash Wii U Tournaments: 3,057
2014 Total Smash Prize Money: $521,917
2015 Total Smash Prize Money: $987,223
2014 Total Smash Tournaments: 3,135
2015 Total Smash Tournaments: 6,192
2014 Total Smash Tournament Entrants: 84,553
2015 Total Smash Tournament Entrants: 175,407
Prize Money
2014 Melee Prize Money: $244,763
2015 Melee Prize Money: $344,598
2014 Smash Wii U Prize Money: $29,597
2015 Smash Wii U Prize Money: $491,402
Tournament Entrants (non-unique, live event only, NO ONLINE)
2014 Melee Tournament Entrants: 40,355
2015 Melee Tournament Entrants: 59,818
2014 Smash Wii U Tournament Entrants: 5,247
2015 Smash Wii U Tournament Entrants: 86,692
Total Tournaments (unique, live events only, NO ONLINE)
2014 Melee Total Tournaments: 1,390
2014 Melee Total Tournaments: 2,021
2014 Smash Wii U Total Tournaments: 196
2015 Smash Wii U Total Tournaments: 2,852
Current Rankings
Below are the current rankings for Super Smash Brothers Melee and Super Smash Brothers for Wii U. This represents the most data-driven ranking on the internet accounting for events large and small, everywhere, without bias toward player group or friends. Players max out at their top 10 best brackets in the last 12 months for the ranking system - which is why very strong players like PPMD are not rated in the top 10 (essentially lack of data with only 3 events on record from last 12 months). The information isn't perfect, but it is updated frequently, with each update improving the results and tracking. Due to its frequent, data-driven updates, it tracks players progress faster and more quickly than human voted polls and opinion lists.
A note on the earnings list - this is a recent feature with the most common missing element being prize bonuses. Still, since it tracks earnings even at local events, it is a solid gauge on measuring expected earnings, especially for players outside the top 5 who aren't earning the additional sums from large event bonuses.
Current Melee Rankings (6,604 players tracked)
Current Smash Wii U Rankings (5,292 players tracked)
2015 Melee Top 10 Ranking Year-end
1. Armada - $79,427.23 from 54 events
2. leffen - $29,900.49 from 36 events
3. hungrybox - $44,674.38 from 62 events
4. MaNg0 - $53,217.74 from 62 events
5. Mew2King - $41,906.39 from 121 events
6. WestBallz - $12,494.68 from 78 events
7. AXE 09 - $8,683.30 from 44 events
8. Pluplue - $10,694.41 from 79 events
9. Shroomed - $5,247.35 from 40 events
10. LuCKy - $3,061.02 from 62 events
16. Dr Peepee $24,386.25 from 27 events
2015 Smash Wii U Top 10 Rankings Year-end
1. TSM ZeRo - $33,114.25 from 37 events
2. Nairo - $15,060.55 from 41 events
3. Dabuz - $11,029.55 from 46 events
4. Mr-R $7,776.25 from 14 events
5. Mew2King - $3,155.85 from 21 events
6. [FBC] ESAM - $4,252.65 from 21 events
7. MVD - $2,910.00 from 35 events
8. Abadango - $1,338.30 from 18 events
9. DEHF - $7,262.45 from 59 events
10. AllyKnight - $7,218.70 from 41 events
Closing Thoughts
2015 was a huge year - Melee continued to grow, Super Smash Brothers for WIi U found its wings, and the community reached crazy new heights. With many new faces interested in the community, it is important to remember what makes the Smash community different from other eSports. Just about everything that is covered in this post - the prize money, the sponsorships, the support, the people - these are all being community funded (whether it is money, time, interest). Corporate sponsors and developer support represent under 10% of the entire Smash industry. This is extremely unique as most games that are considered eSports see millions in developer support.
The lack of corporate support means that the prize pools can't balloon to the heights of other games, but it also ensures that Smash is continuously played well past a typical games product life cycle. In this way, Smash is protected like almost no other game with a community that is entirely self-sustaining (only the cousins of the FGC have similar experience). Even the largest supporter of Smash at a corporate level, Twitch, ultimately facilitates this community-funded mindset with donations and subscriber support of your favorite Smash players.
2016 looks to be another blockbuster year, with the first episodes of Last Stock Legends getting released, potentially the release of Travis Beauchamp's "The Smash Brothers: Armada" movie at the end of 2016, and a slate of huge events starting with Genesis 3 January 15 - 17. If this is your first year as a Smasher, welcome, you are in for a wild ride, and no johns. The first tournament I attended was BOMB in Maryland in 2003. 12 years later I saw many of the same faces 2,000 miles away in Vegas at EVO 2015. I would have never guessed what was just a passing interest in a Nintendo game would turn into a lifelong passion. The Smash community is among the few in gaming (but not the only) that promotes and builds in person bonds. If you are a veteran, remember when going to events to take a moment to meet new people, catch up with old Smashers, and in general impart wisdom to the next generation. SmashBoards was founded over 16 years ago and at this point, the community is a generational ship, carrying us all from one edge guard to the next. 2015 saw events break new records, and for 2016 to continue that trend, everyone needs to do their part to promote friendly competition.
Thanks for Smashing,
-aZ
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