If you’re like me (always online, spending a lot of time scrolling through TikTok), you’ve probably seen tons of videos over the past few weeks of World Cup fans from Europe, Japan, Korea, and Mexico flocking to various cities in the United States to watch the games.
It’s one of those rare, healthy moments you don’t see on the internet these days, when people of all races and cultures get along, and Europeans finally see that all the propaganda they hear about America is a lie. Seeing the British people’s eyes light up when they tasted the delicious food for once was great, and a break from the usual doom scroll.
But I couldn’t help but comment on something in the comments because I’m a bit of an over-critic, as you can probably tell by now. I have seen many people say that this is an important time in history that allowed people to connect, learn and grow together.
And I thought: “Nuh-uh! Esports has been doing this for you.” years. Especially FGC. ”
The international FGC has been decades in the making
Obviously, the World Cup is a mainstream, global event with a bigger audience than any sport could ever dream of. No wonder the “cultures” out there think this whole “clash of cultures at tournaments” thing is novel. I don’t expect them to know about some random Tekken tour in Japan.
But I think it’s great that the FGC has been doing this for decades without being recognized. It wasn’t for the attention of the Internet or TikTok. It was a true gathering of like-minded intellectuals with no regard for race or nationality. They just wanted to win.
What started out as grudge games in serious arcades grew into gaming tournaments in the 1990s. One of the first notable tours was the Battle By the Bay, held in California in 1996 by the later organization Evo. It featured 40 competitors in various arcade games, including Alex Valle and John Choi. And there were no cash prizes. It was all for the love of the game.
Decades later, FGC hasn’t changed much. The prize pools are generally lower than in other esports scenes, but their passion remains strong. In fact, combat sports competitors will travel all over the world to compete, even if they have the chance of a few thousand dollars. You’ll just see players from Japan competing in Super Smash Bros tourneys throughout the year, willing to fly 10 hours or more in hopes of winning $500.
Knowing that you’re at an event with other apathetic people who are willing to travel to another country just for the love of the game… That’s something most outside the FGC will never understand.
“Evo is a global celebration of all forms of fighting,” Evo founder Joey “Mr. Wizard” Cuellar told ESPN back in 2016. “We see ourselves as a great complement to circuits, focused on one sport. Competitors from 85 different countries come out to compete in Evo. When you have an event that covers almost every division of the fight game.”
Fighting game professionals, these tournaments feel like the promised land. Wherever the competition is, that’s where they must be if they want to chase glory, defeat their opponents, show their skills, and be the best. It’s not scary at all to go where you’ve never been, since everyone in this competition is doing one thing. And chances are you’ve already engaged with some of your competitors before you get there.
Unlike soccer (or football), video games can connect people from all over the world. Before going to these tournaments, professionals grind each other in online games. Fans watch professional players from many countries broadcast matches online. This created a sense of togetherness before the journey began.
You don’t need to speak the same language in FGC tournaments
I asked Evo the champion Leonardo “MenaRD” Mena II why he thinks the FGC has been a cultural melting pot for decades before the World Cup.
He said to me: “It’s because of playing online. You’re already experiencing all the cultures by playing online; you’re competing against people you don’t even know. You’re judging them based on skill alone. That’s why we’re used to it when we go to tournaments. You’re already dealing with all these different people.”
This makes the community feel more familiar, even if you’re traveling to Paris, Tokyo, or Las Vegas. You may not even know the language, but you know the game.
“Fighting games are like a language. You can pick it up and play it. You can break barriers,” Fatal Fury: City of Wolves Producer Change Tamaki he told Esports Insider. “You can communicate with different cultures [through the game]. Each country has a different way of playing. You learn about the world and how other people play.”
Episode 8 GOAT Arslan Ash you have seen this for yourself. He told me that at first he was competing with other players in Pakistan. It was the only scene he knew when he started. But as he grew up in the scene, he noticed how other countries were playing, especially Japan, European countries, and the United States. He decided to learn English and Japanese, and became more familiar with other cultures.
“I found friends everywhere,” he said.
Fighting games can create those kinds of real moments and interactions. This is because they are a global phenomenon. While fighting games are niche compared to similar games League of Legends again Counter-Strike 2there are still people playing around the world. There are local scenes all over.
Arslan Ash pointed out that cricket is a popular sport in Pakistan but not in many other countries. Currently, “Gaming is universal. Anyone can play the game. Wherever you go in the world, you can find Tekken players. Gaming is more popular than sports. It’s more accessible.”
I’m not sure that sports are more popular than sports, especially when I compare the size of fighting games to soccer games. But I get what he’s saying. The community feels bigger because everyone is connected. They play together online. They are on the same forums. They follow the same experts in X. They travel to tournaments around the world hoping to qualify for tournaments and majors.
Unlike sports, this fighting game adventure is open to everyone. You can sit down with a local newcomer or a competitor from around the world. Brackets are open. There are no national leagues like soccer or League of Legends. This kind of cross-cultural interaction throughout the season doesn’t feel right in some scenes.
You can sit down with a random person and play a friendly or bracket game, but experience them so they are normal. This is someone who shares your love of fighting games. Since you have such a passion for authenticity, you have an unspoken bond with someone who has traveled all over the world to play in a tournament. Knowing that both of you will lose well before the Top 24.
“I can play video games on the floor,” recalls the Director of Fatal Fury Hayato Konya at Evo Las Vegas, “And someone can sit next to me, we don’t speak the same language, but we play together and communicate in that way, that can lead to building many relationships with many people.
“Let’s do that again sometime. Let’s get coffee. Let’s hang out. It’s community-building. It’s a fun tool.”
For fighting game players, going to the United States and getting a soda refill or going to Japan to play darts at an arcade is nothing new. Not the right times for TikTok. This is a real experience. Immersion in many different cultures is part of the competition at FGC.
“I feel like the FGC has always been a mix of different cultures. It doesn’t really matter where you come from and who you are,” MenaRD said. “It’s about the game and sharing that moment and having a good time.”
Pro players travel all over the world for FGC
Arslan Ash and MenaRD both moved to Japan to better focus on their esports careers. For Arslan Ash, this helped him learn more matchups before international tournaments. But it also took him out of his comfort zone.
“In Japan, I do a lot of crazy things,” Arslan told me. “I always eat something strange. I ate this very small fish, and it has eyes. You can’t eat it just anywhere. I tasted that thing…”
“Nah… I ordered it by mistake. It was something fried on top of my noodles. But I tried.”
For top fighting game professionals, other countries are not uncommon places. That’s right at home. It’s where they train, where they compete, where they learn matchups, and where they improve their work.
It all goes back to the 1990s, when fighting game tournaments first appeared. I hate to remind myself and other fighting game fans, but it has happened in 30 years of competition at the moment. These countries are very familiar to anyone who has invested in the scene. Traveling, seeing different cities, and living around players who don’t speak the same language is part of FGC.
I asked MenaRD what he does when he goes to a fighting game event: “My main focus is seeing the city itself through food and history and the local scene. Sharing with the local community. Understanding where I am.”
It’s not about creating a viral moment on TikTok with lots of cakes or people dancing in the street. Those are great, don’t get me wrong. But a fighting game doesn’t need to share these moments. They are probably close. Like sharing your personal life. These countries are not new to people who have been interacting with other cultures for decades. These are their people.
Again, not kidding about people’s obsession with World Cup videos. I get that we all need some excitement and whimsy right now. And watching a guy from the UK try to fly with bottles of farm, which taste bad, never fails to make me laugh. That Japanese guy on the mechanical bull? The top.
But the the truth The melting pot is video games, especially FGC. It is not a virus. It’s a way of life.
