There are so many fighting games in the FGC esports scene

In recent years, developers have ventured more into the fighting game genre. Left and right, it seems that there is a new game coming out, which surprised the fighting game community (FGC), because the genre had not been touched by other developers not named Capcom, Bandai Namco, Arc System Works, SNK, or NetherRealm for a while.

So, what happened to the sudden change? Is the community missing something? Perhaps a gold mine discovered by developers? I’m not sure, but I think a lot of fighting games might not be in the public interest.

From multiplayer bases to hard-to-follow scenes, each fighting game makes it difficult for viewers to navigate the esports scene. I’m here to talk about them all, as well as a few fitness ones that I think are important!

Let’s face it: next to the real-time strategy scene, the fighting game community has one of the smallest player bases for sports. Basically, it is niche.

Although there is an argument that it is slowly regaining the light of popularity that it once had in the late 90s, because Street Fighter 6games like League of Legends and Counter-Strike have dominated the scene in their absence and established themselves as the premier esports games. This leaves FGC with few dedicated players and limits its growth.

To give you some context, Street Fighter 6, arguably the most popular fighting game in the world right now, has a peak in just 24 hours of 37,700, according to SteamDB. On the other hand, Counter-Strike 2 has 1.4 million. The gap is huge and it just shows what the brand is like. Introducing more fighting games into the mix will only alienate the current player base, as many players tend to focus on one game, taking them away from the past.

Don’t get me wrong, the general audience is blessed with all these games, but it can hurt the esports scene, and the main reason for that is the next point I want to discuss.

In this context, “Renaissance Man” refers to someone who has deep expertise in multiple fighting games, usually a top player in them, and I believe this era ended with the introduction of Pro Tour circuits such as Capcom Pro Tour and Tekken World Tour. Because of these associations, the prize money of the games they support has also increased.

Therefore, the natural progression would be to simply focus on one thing and ignore the other, assuming you can win big anyway.

See, the main reason people did the Renaissance Man way back then was that fighting game tournaments paid rocks, and focusing on one game means you limit yourself to how much money you can make in each tournament. However, with the introduction of Pro Tours, it has become dangerous for people to go this route because they miss out on money by not focusing on one thing that would earn them a lot.

The entry of esports teams into the scene also means that they want some return on their investment. Therefore, they probably want their players to focus on one game to ensure that they take home as much money for the organization as possible.

That being said, there are still Renaissance Men fighting games that walk with us on this Earth, but they are very rare. This includes Christopher “NYChrisG” Gonzalezwho plays Street Fighter 6, 2XKOFatal Fury: City of the Wolves, and any fighting game you put in front of him. Goichi “GO1” Kishida it’s the same again, but it’s very clear that his focus is on Fatal Fury: City of Wolves, because it’s the highest paying fighting game there is, where $1.5 million goes to the winner of the SNK World Champion of this game.

Needless to say, like the Capcom Cup, the prize distribution is terrible. The runner-up receives $300,000, making the grand final a $1.2 million prize game.

One of the ways that separates FGC tournaments from your typical esports events is the collection of games featured. For example, in a League of Legends tournament, it’s only League of Legends. You don’t see other Riot games, like VALORANT or Teamfight Tactics, because they usually have their own circuits.

In typical FGC tournaments, there are five games, maybe more, involved, resulting in a lack of focus for tournament organizers and staff. The main reason why League of Legends tournament production looks so professional is that the people on the scene are all working towards one goal: to present the best League of Legends games possible to people watching at home.

On the other hand, FGC tournaments have different goals. For example, a tournament that is part of the Tekken World Tour will put more emphasis on Tekken games and leave Street Fighter games alone. The opposite also happens if the tournament is a member of the Capcom Pro Tour instead.

This is especially concerning for those who want to watch a single game because the production is all over the place, and it is difficult to expect consistent production quality for every tournament around the world.

There’s no easy fix here, unfortunately. I said this in my “FGC must come out of the grassroots if it wants to survive” piece, but I believe that publishers and promoters simply need to step up and train the staff and organizers of the events they participate in to ensure they provide the best viewing experience for those watching at home.

Upgrading means improving setups and related systems to ensure players are in the best possible place. Downers can only do so much, and developers must build strong relationships with them.

Now, of course, I’m not going to sit here and pretend there’s no merit to having multiple fighting games in one tournament. This type of setup makes the tournaments seem like a festival, which is a wonderful way to celebrate the genre. Many major tournaments also have other events, and people are encouraged to participate or watch. Cosplay contests are a thing, artist forums are a thing, even controller mod shops are at events. It makes the whole tournament look like a convention rather than just a tournament.

Additionally, there is also a high chance that a newbie might see a cool fighting game that they never knew about before, eventually leading them to play it.

Meeting new people is also an amazing part of attending tournaments. See, in circles like this, you already share common interests, which makes it easier to build a connection. Lifelong friends are made here on many subjects, forming the “community” part of FGC.

Other than that, tournaments are generally a lot of fun. When you’re with friends, you sit down and watch for good matches and wander around if you don’t find an interesting match. Bring Your Own Controller tournaments are also different: they are actually a local category where people can gather and play niche fighting games rather than the usual ones that are always on the main stage.

Most of these are absent from the major tournaments of Counter-Strike 2 or VALORANT.