Japan’s largest speedrunning event, RTA in Japan (RTAiJ), has announced that all Nintendo-owned games will be excluded from its upcoming marathon. The decision comes after Nintendo informed organizers they would need to obtain explicit permission for each Nintendo title they wanted to feature.
According to RTAiJ’s announcement, Nintendo contacted the organizing team in June, stating that approval would be required for every Nintendo game planned for the event. The organizers explained they couldn’t complete the necessary legal process in time for this year’s marathon.
This requirement lines up with Japan’s strict copyright laws, which lack the “fair use” provisions common in Western countries. Japanese law usually means you have to get direct approval from rights holders for public streaming or exhibition, especially for profit-making organizations or events.
RTAiJ has operated as a legal corporate entity since 2020, which likely changed its obligations under these copyright laws. The switch to a formal corporate structure seems to have brought greater attention and tighter enforcement of permission requirements.
What’s particularly interesting here is that other Japanese publishers reportedly did not lay down the same restrictions, making Nintendo the only major company to enforce these requirements so strictly for the event.
Nintendo games like those in the Mario, Zelda, and Pokémon franchises are historically some of the most popular titles in the global speedrunning community. Their absence will seriously change the event’s lineup and could impact viewership.
The Japanese streaming scene just plays by different rules than its Western equivalents. Even independent content creators in Japan, especially those who make money from their content, technically need permission from game publishers to stream their games.
RTAiJ is often seen as Japan’s answer to Western charity marathons like Games Done Quick (GDQ). The event has previously hosted successful, family-friendly broadcasts featuring many popular Nintendo games, making their absence this year especially noticeable.
The organizers have said they plan to seek permission for Nintendo titles in the future to avoid this situation at upcoming events. The marathon will go on as planned, featuring speedruns of non-Nintendo games from other publishers.
Racing against red tape
This isn’t the first time Nintendo has come down hard on gaming events over its IP rights. The company has previously stepped in at tournaments like EVO 2013 and various Smash Bros. competitions, sticking to its reputation for tightly protecting its games.
While Nintendo skipping out may give RTAiJ a chance to show off a wider variety of games, it could also shrink international interest, since Mario and Zelda runs usually pull in big crowds and donations.
