VALORANT’s Squirtle Squad has to change name due to Nintendo trademark

The new North American VALORANT team Squirtle Squad has a complication due to their team name. This is due to Nintendo’s strict trademark policy. Yes, you read that right. Nintendo has something to do with this complication.

One of the players of this team, Peter “Governor” No, announced the problem they are facing in a Twitter post as they are looking for new names for their team.

But who is Squirtle?

Squirtle is a popular Pokémon known for its adorable appearance and nature. This water Pokémon has its name and image trademarked by Nintendo’s Pokémon Company. In addition, Nintendo has always been a pain in the ass regarding its strict copyright policies.

Having the label of a Pokémon has gotten this new team into tremendous trouble, as Nintendo has formally asked them to change the name of their roster just days before a very important official tournament.

Governor asks the community for help

In the Tweet, the player asks the community to help them with the organization’s new name. One of the most prominent responses was “Blast-boyz” from Fnatic captain Jake “Boaster” Howlet, which plays with Squirtle’s evolution form, Blastoise. On the other hand, others mentioned an unbranded version of the original name, “Turtle Troop.”

But the one that stands out the most, and has garnered the most likes, is the one suggested by Anthony “Okeanos” Nguyen.

Very tough tournament for Squirtle Squad

The team was in a tight spot as the Challenger League starts next February 1, 2023, so the participants have less than a week to prepare. The then Squirtle Squad managed to qualify for the North American VCT Challengers League after an intense battle in the preliminary phase. However, after losing two consecutive matches, the team was eliminated from the initial qualifying round.

The team then held its own against its Last Chance Playoff opponents and won eight consecutive games in the LCQ to qualify, along with OREsports, to the NA VCT Challengers League.

The team is in Group A, which it shares with Shopify Rebellion, G2 Esports, and FaZe Clan. On the other hand, we also have BreakThru and Oxygen Esports, who earned their spots through the open qualifiers.

Name dilemma solved

In the last few hours, Governor himself has posted that the dilemma regarding his team’s name is over. So, the participating NA VCT Challengers League 2023 team now takes the name “Turtle Troops.”

With this, the novel between this team, Nintendo, and the VCT itself ends, and it is expected that this lineup will bear the expected fruits from next February 1.

The starting lineup of Turtle Troops is as follows:

• Peter “Governor” No
• Matthew “WeDid” Suchan
• Anthony “Okeanos” Nguyen
• Mohammed “Harmful” Choudhary
• Jack “Add3r” Hayashi

Header: Nintendo