



Apex 2015 was the 6th installment in the Apex series and was originally scheduled to take place in Secaucus, New Jersey from January 30 to February 1, 2015. Due to venue issues, the event was moved to the Garden State Convention Center in Somerset, New Jersey in the morning of the first day. It was the largest Melee tournament ever by number of players, with 1037 registered entrants, as well as the first Melee tournament with over 1,000 entrants. Apex 2015 featured the largest prize pool recorded in Melee Singles, exceeding $18,000[1], surpassing the previous record holder, 2006 MLG Las Vegas. Apex 2015 was also the largest North American Smash 64 tournament, with 188 entrants.[2]

On January 20, 2015, amidst allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct, Apex staff announced that founder of Apex, Alex Strife, would be stepping down from his duties as director of Apex.[3]

Tournaments [ edit ]

Results [ edit ]

Singles [ edit ]

Doubles [ edit ]

Controversies [ edit ]

Apex 2015 and its staff faced several controversies prior to and during the event.

Project M [ edit ]

On November 7, 2014, Apex announced the game lineup for Apex 2015, which included Super Smash Bros. for the Nintendo 64, Melee, Brawl, Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, and other non-Smash games.[4] Notably absent, however, was Project M, the popular mod for Brawl that was the second largest event at Apex 2014 by number of entrants. Some speculated that the removal was due to Nintendo sponsoring the event, although that had not been confirmed when the lineup was announced.

The head of Apex, Alex Strife, faced death threats over the removal of Project M from the event.[5]

Later, Nintendo was announced as a sponsor for Apex 2015 , but it was not confirmed that this was the reason Project M was removed from the lineup.

On January 9, 2015, Apex announced that Nintendo would be sponsoring Apex 2015, making it the second-ever Super Smash Bros. tournament to be sponsored by Nintendo, following EVO 2014.

Nintendo's sponsorship became controversial because many community members saw it as having a detrimental effect on the community. Many viewed Nintendo as the reason why Project M was removed from the event, and Alex Strife ordered the removal of texture mods of Melee being used at B.E.A.S.T 5, an Apex World Circuit event, in fear of Nintendo's disapproval of a modded version of their game making an appearance at a tournament they indirectly sponsored.[7]

After the tournament, Nintendude explained that Nintendo provided consoles and equipment for the tournament in collaboration with Gaming Generations.[8]

Alex Strife [ edit ]

On January 20, 2015, several members of the community accused Apex head Alex Strife of sexually harassing and blackmailing female and transgender members of the community.[9][10][11][12][13][14]

The same day, Chibo, owner of CLASH Tournaments, posted on Reddit about Alex Strife's repeated unscrupulous behavior as organizer of Apex and other tournaments.[15] He claimed that Alex Strife organized for international players at Apex 2010 to be transported in the back of a Uhaul van along with CRT televisions, quit Apex multiple times internally, at one point due to being upset that EVO 2013 broke the record for largest Melee tournament instead of an Apex event, signed a contract giving Clash Tournaments to main stream of Apex 2015 then reneged on his promise, and continually harassed and bullied Chibo and his girlfriend online, among other accusations.

Apex announced on the same day that Alex Strife would be stepping down from his duties at Apex.[3]

Venue Issue [ edit ]

A few days before the event was scheduled to start, a blizzard hit the Northeastern United States, delaying several players' flights, including Armada.[16]

On January 30, 2015, Apex staff announced that the tournament was on hold due to safety issues with the venue and fire marshals.[17] The venue had been damaged by the aforementioned blizzard, threatening the safety of the players.

After a few hours, the Garden State Convention Center in Somerset, New Jersey was announced as the new venue for the event.[18][19] Apex staff also announced that no competition would take place on what was scheduled to be the first day of the event as they relocated to the new venue.[20] Apex staff were able to reschedule the event for two days without cutting any events.[21]

Juggleguy, organizer of The Big House series of tournaments, criticized the original choice of venue, saying "This venue shouldn't have been used for a tourney even half of Apex's size."[22]

Apex announced that there would be a shuttle bus transporting players from the old venue to the new venue[23] but miscommunication led to players expecting more buses, which caused many players to be disqualified due to not being able to make it to the new venue.[24]

It is estimated that only 850 players ended up being able to participate in the tournament due to the venue change and the condensed schedule.[25]

Delayed Finals [ edit ]

Controversy began over the delayed beginning of Melee top 8. The top 8 for Melee began much later than originally scheduled, and finished at 3 AM local time. Some spectators chanted "Melee!" after the conclusion of Smash for Wii U finals which immediately preceded Melee top 8, sparking controversy between the Melee and Wii U communities.[26]

Nintendude and GimR explained that the delayed finals was mostly due to Wii U doubles.[27][28]