During Nintendo’s E3 presentation, the Japanese developer aired a reveal trailer for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. The latest iteration of the popular franchise will arrive on the Switch in December, but the trailer already has the competitive Smash community excited for the future of the game’s esports scene.

Nintendo has a complicated history with competitive Smash players. When the company was not actively preventing fans from watching live streams of professional matches, it largely ignored the competitive scene. At this year’s E3, Nintendo proved that it has changed its mind about Smash esports.

The company held an invitational where eight of the best players in the world got to preview the game, with the grand finals taking place largely under an esports ruleset. What fans saw at the invitational, combined with the trailer, showed member of the Smash community that Nintendo had been paying attention to the competitive scene in recent years.

Alan Bunney, CEO of esports organization Panda Global said:

“Not only is it a more complete title than [Super Smash Bros. for Wii U ],it is extremely focused on serving up what the competitive fans wanted. They actually listened and incorporated tons of quality of life changes to, for the first time in the series, allow competitive players to not feel ignored and ostracized from the target audience.”

The focus of Ultimate’s reveal trailer was the return of every character that has ever appeared in a Smash game. Like all fighting games, top level players usually focus on one or two characters and, when a character does not return for the next iteration, it has a big impact on the competitors who invested time into mastering that character. This means that many top level players will be reunited with the characters that helped them make their name in older Smash games. Ramin “Mr. R” Delshad was one of the eight professional players invited to the E3 invitational. He told The Esports Observer:

“I’m expecting to see [Super Smash Bros. Brawl] character specialists to come back in full force. I’ve already talked to a bunch of retired smashers that are going to make a return!”

That said, Delshad expects the game to have little impact on the Melee scene. Smash esports is largely divided between the most recent version of the game, and the 15-year-old Super Smash Bros. Melee. This is largely because Melee includes several mechanics that make it’s gameplay significantly faster and more difficult to execute at the highest level. While Ultimate includes several improved mechanics over the previous iteration of Smash, it does not have the speed of Melee. As such, Delshad stated that based on what he played the game is unlikely to entice fans of Melee to abandon their preferred version.

While Melee, which is currently the more popular esport, should retain its fans, Ultimate represents a chance for the modern version to finally overtake it. “Smash Ultimate is going to introduce Smash to an audience of over 15 million Switch users…” said PGStats director Luis “Suar” Suarez. PGStats, a division of Panda Global, runs the most widely recognized rankings system for Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.

“With the advent of social media,” Suarez said, “streaming being more accessible than ever, and communities and regions forming in areas all over the world, Smash Ultimate is ready to take advantage of existing infrastructure coupled with renewed hype and the fastest-selling console of all time to potentially be the most visible console esport of all time.”

If Ultimate succeeds to that degree, it would have a significant impact on the esports industry. Not only does Smash bring large numbers of registrants to major fighting game tournaments, there are dozens of Smash-exclusive events throughout the year, the largest of which attract thousands of attendees. If Smash grows into a top tier esport, these tournaments will become perfect opportunities for in-person brand activations for both esports organizations and tournament organizers.

The Milwaukee Bucks’ esports organization Bucks Gaming recently sponsored a Smash tournament in order grow their presence in Midwestern esports. With geolocated esports leagues on the rise, regional esports organizations could leverage the growth of Smash esports to create new opportunities for sponsor engagements with a wider audience.

Smash is a series that appeals to a younger demographic and has been proven to create loyalty and a willingness to spend. Combined that with the myriad in-person event and a top tier Smash esport represents a unique opportunity for esports organizations and their sponsors.