Hosted twice a year, RTA in Japan (RIJ) is the country’s biggest speedrunning event. While it is one of the most anticipated tournaments among speedruners, this year’s summer event ended up sparking some controversy after it was revealed that no Nintendo games would be featured in the program due to an “unauthorized use” warning issued by Japan’s video game giant itself. The organizers were told that they would have to apply separately for each title they plan to feature if they want to avoid any legal complications – and luckily, it seems like RIJ managed to resolve the problem, as Nintendo games are finally making a comeback with RTA in Japan Winter 2025.
In June this year, the organizers revealed a list of games that would be featured in the summer event, and many couldn’t help but notice that Nintendo’s titles were nowhere to be found within the list. Without any official explanation given at the time, fans went on to speculate that Nintendo was possibly involved, especially because the company’s games always had a place at RIJ, and were among the ones with highest viewership in the event – most notably, Super Mario 64, Pokémon Red and Blue, Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and Splatoon.
However, just around the start of RTA in Japan Summer 2025, the organizers announced that their decision was in fact made in response to a warning from Nintendo. According to the explanation, Nintendo had reached out to notify them that “as a legal entity, they would have to ask for permission in advance” in order to be able to feature the company’s games in the event, and that all of the previous instances of their games being streamed as part of RTA in Japan are considered “unauthorized use.” RIJ explained they would be sending separate requests to Nintendo for each title they plan to feature, and that this might affect the way future events are organized.
Luckily, it seems that the RIJ team has managed to sort everything out with Nintendo in the past few months. On November 2, the organizers posted a new list of games planned to be featured in RTA in Japan Winter 2025, which, curiously, brings back some of Nintendo’s classic titles to the event.
At RTA in Japan Winter 2025, set to take place from December 25 to December 31 in Tokyo, speedrunning enthusiasts and video game fans will get to see Super Mario Galaxy, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Pikmin 4, Pokémon Scarlet and Violet and many other Nintendo-owned titles livestreamed once again. As per tradition, the money earned through streaming will be donated to humanitarian medical care charity organization Doctors Without Borders.
