'Smashing It': How User Entrepreneurs Drive Innovation in Esports Communities

This study examines how user entrepreneurs drive innovation in the European Super Smash Bros. esports scene, asking how user-specific attributes and environment-specific characteristics enable entrepreneurial activity among community members. Drawing on a single-case design that combines forum content analysis with twelve semi-structured interviews of community leaders and tournament organizers across seven European countries, the research positions esports as a particularly fertile setting for user-driven innovation, and Europe as an under-supported region relative to the United States. The scene's commercialization, from grassroots Melee tournaments to the 2020 Smash World Tour with a $250,000 prize pool, demonstrates what community leaders can accomplish despite fragmented structures, regional version differences, and limited involvement from Nintendo.

The central finding is that entrepreneurial motivation is driven primarily by personal passion for the game, a desire to give back to the community, and the pursuit of non-financial rewards, since most organizers lose money or break even. Insider knowledge gained from a system-of-use perspective, together with the community's grassroots, offline-centered, and welcoming culture, emerges as the main set of user-specific and environment-specific enablers. The authors also identify Nintendo's shifting support, including initiatives such as the European Smash Circuit, and professional festivals acting as accelerators as forces shaping the scene's growth and professionalization.

The concluding analysis presents a model linking these user-specific and environmental factors to entrepreneurial behavior, framing the European Smash community as a strong setting for user entrepreneurship. Enjoyment, community cohesion, industry-adapted solutions, and the uncertainty created by Nintendo's limited support are identified as the key drivers. The study acknowledges limitations, including its reliance on researcher interpretation in content analysis and its focus on Europe rather than the American scene. Nonetheless, the authors argue that esports stakeholders would benefit from supporting regional grassroots actors, and that esports offers a viable platform for extending innovation and entrepreneurship research.