Fighting Games News

Fighting Games News, you are in the right place!

Fighting games may not be the most popular of genres, or even the most flashy of esports, but they do have a pretty huge following, and have ever since their launch decades ago in the old arcade halls. Of course, a lot has changed since then. If nothing else, esports have made it big, and competitive gaming has swept up not just this genre but several more on top of it.

Fighting games are particularly perfect for use in esports – the round-based competitive nature of them means that they are ideal for competitive gaming… and the history of these games confirms it! It’s not all about history though, it’s about staying at the pulse of things – it’s all about the fighting games news.

There’s plenty of fighting games news, with countless competitions, tournaments, both official and unofficial happening all the time. Esports have long since made their way to top tier competitions like DreamHack, and a more varied set of games has made their way onto the market. While series like Tekken, Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat are still going strong, other games and series are also making it big.

Titles like Under Night In-Birth, Dragon Ball FighterZ, Skullgirls, Guilty Gear Xrd and also Super Smash Bros. Melee each have their own pretty devout following, and often feature in esports tournaments as well. It’s not an exhaustive list either – SoulCalibur, BlazBlue, VirtuaFighter… there are a lot of popular and successful games, each of them with their own set of interesting fighting games news and events to follow for any fan or avid player.

For a genre as old and established as this one, it’s really no surprise – fighting games were one of the biggest types of game to be played in the days of arcade gaming, and while they are no longer the top most popular games, they never lost their appeal, nor their fanbase. Here at esports.net we provide you the latest fighting games news: so, stay up to date!

© EVO

Fighting Games in Esports

Esports fighting games are traditionally not as popular as other esports genres – compared to MOBAs or shooters, they certainly take a backseat… a backseat worth millions. Fighting games routinely have multi-million-dollar competitions with huge amounts of fans and players attending.

As in any genre, not every title out there ends up as esports fighting games, but there are some really big fighting games out there. The best titles are pretty much the same as the ones that make up the Top 10 Competitive Fighting Games in the esports world, if not entirely identical.

The most popular esports fighting games out there

With new games being released fairly regularly, that is bound to change things up, but at the moment, the top five games in the world are:

Street Fighter 5 Esports Game Review & News

Why Street Fighter V is one of the best fighting games in esports

Everybody knows that Street Fighter is one of the most popular video games of all time. The recent 2016 edition of the fighting game has also proven to be a big hit in the esports realm. Read our review of Street Fighter 5 to learn more about how this epic franchise has survived in the modern era.

The best of all Street Fighter games

All Street Fighter games are intense combat games where players must fight against their opponents. Ever since Capcom released the first Street Fighter title in 1987, its side-scrolling fighting action became a massive global gaming hit. And although there is still plenty of debate about whether Street Fighter or Tekken is the best fighting game of all-time, there is little doubt that Street Fighter V is the best title in the franchise. With over 40 million in game sales, it’s clear that Street Fighter games are here to stay. But what is it about the latest version that makes Street Fighter and esports such a good combo?

Our Street Fighter 5 review will give you a quick introduction to this awesome title, so that you will instantly see why this fighting game has become such a massive esports sensation. Whether you want to want to play the game, or even place a bet on Street Fighter V, be sure to read more about this combat title.

How have Street Fighter games become so successful?

On paper, the Street Fighter franchise is little different from many other hand-to-hand combat games. What keeps this Capcom title ahead of its competitors is an enviable combination of lightning-fast gameplay, stylish graphics and an ever-growing selection of Street Fighter characters to play with.

With over $10 billion in revenues, it’s clear that Capcom have put plenty of effort into ensuring that Street Fighter continues to feel fresh and relevant for today’s gaming scene. Whilst Capcom have clung onto the two-dimensional sideways-scrolling gameplay of the 1987 original, they have introduced many more new features that should help Street Fighter continue to pick up new fans.

From cross-platform gameplay to some great new Street Fighter characters, there’s plenty here to appeal to a younger generation of gamers. And whilst the battle between Street Fighter and Tekken continues to rage, it’s clear that it’s Street Fighter’s esports ambitions that could put it ahead of the competition.

What are the key ingredients of Street Fighter 5?

Street Fighter 5 is a game that’s incredibly simple to understand. It’s not surprising to find that the core objective of Street Fighter 5 is to beat your opponent in physical combat. But what makes all Street Fighter games so addictive is the way that you can use a variety of attacks and special moves to neutralise your opponent.

Not only is there a great deal of skill in learning all of the moves attributed to each of the Street Fighter characters, but the latest instalment of the game added a V-Gauge that offers the player special powers that can be used with devastating effects.

In addition to this, new characters and even a story mode was added through downloadable content after Street Fighter 5’s release. All of this helped to make this title the best of the Street Fighter games so far.

© Capcom

The most important part of the game?

All incarnations of Street Fighter have given the player the opportunity of picking and choosing a character to play with. Street Fighter 5 served up 16 characters with their own distinct back stories and special skills — four of these were brand new Street Fighter characters.

Alongside iconic characters like Ryu, gamers got to play as newcomers like Rashid who has the power of manipulating the wind, whereas Laura Matsuda has the unnerving ability to use electricity in her attacks.

With further fighters like Falke and G being made available through DLC following the game’s release, it shows how much demand there is for even more outlandish creations. And with the opportunity of buying these characters with real-world money or ‘Fight Money’, it’s evident that Street Fighter is a franchise that is unafraid to move with the times.

What are the main Street Fighter tournaments?

Street Fighter’s awesome gameplay and simple premise means that it’s perfectly suited for the dynamic world of esports. Ever since the game was released, it quickly became a big hit in the competitive gaming scene and $2 million in prize winnings has been awarded from nearly 100 separate Street Fighter tournaments in the first year alone.

The best place to see the ultimate in Street Fighter esports is the Capcom Pro Tour. The Evolution Championship Series also serves up plenty of great combat action with Japanese esports stars like Tokido and Kanunoko routinely delivering a masterclass in Street Fighter gameplay.

And with many other top tournaments like ELEAGUE and DreamHack now including Capcom’s fighting game in their events, it’s just another reason why the battle of Street Fighter versus Tekken could soon be over.

Final thoughts on Street Fighter V

Street Fighter V could be the best combat game that’s ever been released.

Whilst other games seem to get a lot more complicated over time, there’s something about the simplicity and style of Street Fighter that should ensure that this franchise continues its incredible popularity.

With many more characters, stories, special moves and esports tournaments being introduced, it looks like Capcom’s fighting game will pass the test of time.

Who are the best players in the world?

Whilst Capcom only releases a new version of Street Fighter every few years, the esports world has given us an ever changing selection of awesome Street Fighter esports competitions to keep up with. Watching the best Street Fighter esports players is a great way to quickly get up to speed with the game and improve your own gaming skills. From the Evolution Championship Series to the Capcom Pro Tour, there’s always some great street fighting action going on somewhere in the world. So check out our esports news section so that you can get the lowdown on the movers and shakers in the fascinating realm of Street Fighter esports tournaments.

TEKKEN Esports – Fighting your way to victory

Tekken in Esports: The classic fighting Saga

The eternal fight to win the great Iron Fist King went global, so here we will talk about Tekken in Esports.

This stunning wrestling videogame has been one of the world’s favorites since it came out. Tekken’s brute translation means “Iron Fist”, and consists of a set of characters representing different types of martial arts, with the addition of supernatural powers, who participate in the Tekken wrestling tournament called (in English) “The King of Iron Fist”.

Tekken is a game that goes beyond tournament fights. Behind the fights, you will live a story of betrayal and hatred.

The Story Behind Tekken

The Mishima family has developed a financial company: “Mishima Zaibatsu”. The head and father of the family and founder of the company, Himpachi, also possessed a special gift as a wrestler. One day at his Dojo, a little girl named Kisumi appeared and begin training with his son Heihachi. They grew up together, fell in love, got married and had a son whom they called: “Kazuya”. This brought much joy to the family, especially Himpachi who gave his grandson special treatment.But his son Heihachi did not agree with so many affection for his son Kasuya, because, according to him, it weakened the personality of his son, who was hardly a baby.

Later on, Heihachi betrayed his father, locked him up and took over the company, transforming it into a dangerous military industry. Kisumi, seeing Himpachi become a threat to the world, decided to face him in an epic fight, assuming a diabolical gene that would give her special powers, nevertheless, she could not defeat him and died. Heihachi then decided to throw his son Kazuya into an abyss.

From this story begins a set of clashes within the tournaments “The King of Iron Fist” where Heihachi decides to face the best fighters in the world and to his surprise, his son Kazuya, who survives the fall thanks to his mother’s “diabolic gene”, ends up facing him at the end of the first tournament.

Kazuya defeats his father and throws him to an abyss, thus avenging the death of his mother. In such way, the first arc of history closes with millions of fans all over the world.

If you had a Dreamcast or a PSX you probably remember all this.

Has TEKKEN changed?

From 1994 to 2017 this fantastic game has evolved to 7 stunning editions available on all game platforms.

In most versions it keeps the canon of the main story, but is only part of the environment of the Tekken tournaments, where their fighters have their fighting style, among which are:

– Karate
– Kung Fu
– Tae Kwon Do
– Boxing, Kempo
– Capoeira
– Judo
– Ninjutsu
– And Egyptian Kutu, among others.

So, no, the game itself keeps its essence but has gone wildly better regarding gameplay and dynamics, managing to be one of the favorites of the competitions of Esports.

© Bandai Namco Entertainment

TEKKEN in Esports

From TEKKEN 5 onwards, the franchise has been a very popular world championship game that brings together the best players in the world, whose matches are set in giant screens in stadiums equipped with high technology.

Since the game is still not in the Esports META, the winners of these tournaments receive prizes of around 200.000$.

Tekken belongs within the “Evolution Championship Series” competitions of Esports –the one that includes fighting games.

In this way, its permanence within the competition is due to the development of technologies and operational versatility; this allows the sustainable growth of the saga within the fans.

On the other hand, we have the TEKKEN World Tour

The “Tekken World Tour” is one of the most important events in the evolution of the giant of Bandai and Namco. Allowing its followers to prepare for Esports and promoting the fascinating experience of Tekken around the world.

Eric Hartness, Vice President of Marketing at Bandai Namco Entretaiment America Inc, for the www.crackenesports.gg portal stated the following:

“Each year, TEKKEN World Tour has set the stage for some of the most dramatic stories in the world of esports and we hope to entertain millions of wrestling game fans with another great, highly competitive season at TEKKEN 7. As it enters its third season, TEKKEN World Tour 2019 will be bigger, reaching more players with its innovative Dojo tournaments, and generating more excitement than ever”.

Through the “Tekken World Tour”, the game promotes a very interesting game philosophy. It simulates the competition of diverse fight, without categorization of styles or characters. All this with a surreal background based on a story that expands throughout its 7 sagas.

This way, Tekken has become a technological impact that allows you to be part of the Olympics of the Esports era.

Besides, through its innovative platform, it becomes inclusive, encompassing the most experienced players without abandoning the beginners. This is possible thanks to the “Dojos Tekken” including all players to “The King of the Iron Fist”.

Super Smash Bros

The Biggest Crossover Fighting Event

Super Smash Bros is by far the biggest crossover event in gaming. Nowhere else can you see Sonic, Mario, Solid Snake, and Cloud fight it out inside an old Gameboy level. The game has grown from a Nintendo-only unique take on the fighter genre to one of the biggest events in games. While the Super Smash Bros Esports community hasn’t always been a focus of the games themselves, it has become a favourite at many tournaments. Various entries in the series all have their own followings, making it one of the most popular titles around in Esports.

© Nintendo

What Makes Super Smash Bros Different?

Super Smash Bros is pretty different from most fighting games. Setting aside the crossover appeal, its core mechanics don’t fit with the rest of the genre. There aren’t complicated strings of button inputs, you get an attack button and a special attack. Rather than trying to drain your enemies’ health, you try to knock them off a platform. Damaging them increases the likelihood that they’ll be smashed off the screen, but you can also take a stock by knocking them off of the stage.

Smash Bros is supposed to be played without stock (lives), and with an array of randomised overpowered items and assists raining down. It isn’t quite how the competitive community do things though. While Super Smash Bros is simple enough to pick up and play, actually mastering it is another matter. The simple A and B attacks actually function differently depending on the minutiae of your positioning and movement of the C-Stick, making for quite a lot of different options, then there’s grabs, tilts, spikes… the majority of these functions are fan-coined terms to describe the hidden depths of gameplay.

Outside of its actual mechanics, Smash Bros is a ridiculous game. Mascots and icons from various gaming franchised are mashed up, along with an electric selection of stages from various games. It is half fighting game and half video game museum. The roster for the latest incarnation will exceed 80, with even more fighters in the works. Super Smash Bros Esports players make a wacky and casual game into a deeply complex fighter. Each game has the same core mechanics, but a vastly different competitive experience.

Super Smash Bros (Nintendo 64)

The original Super Smash Bros used to be fairly unrepresented in competitive events. However, more recently players have seen the light. It is a lot more basic than the rest of the entries, featuring only 8 playable characters. The options for attacks are quite a bit more limited and there is plenty of jankyness limiting high-level play.

What has emerged in recent years with this iteration, is there is fun in the limitations of Smash 64. Some things are clearly unbalanced, others just plain broken. However, it is still hard to beat a combo contest in this wonky entry.

Super Smash Bros Melee

Super Smash Bros Melee has a pretty strange backstory. It was rushed into development to fill out the GameCube’s line-up, with series director Sakurai using every trick in the book to get it out on time. Yet, it has become the definitive Super Smash Bros Esports title.

The game actually shows has quickly it was made. Out of the 13 new playable characters, seven are just model swaps of others, with a number more being debatable. This is particularly noticeable with Gannondorf. The demon king of Legend of Zelda is playable for the first time in this entry, with a reskinned moveset of Captain Falcon, the race car driver.

Super Smash Bros Melee might actually be more broken than Smash 64. So why is it the most competitively popular? Well, a lot of the things most players, and the developers, regard as glitches and exploits are viewed by the competitive community as high-level mechanics. Wavedashing, L-Cancelling, V-Cancelling, to the most talented players these are techniques. It is hard to argue with their skill. Watching a game of Melee being played competitively is completely alien to watching a casual game.

Super Smash Bros: Brawl

Super Smash Bros Brawl, affectionately known as the one everyone hates. This game was a reaction to Melee and the Super Smash Bros Esports scene. Sakurai wanted to bring the game back to its casual roots. ‘Advanced Techniques’ were removed, characters were overpowered, and some deliberate anti-competitive mechanics were put in the game, like players randomly tripping over all the time.

This title isn’t exactly beloved competitively. You’re more likely to find players using Project M, the fan hack that reworked Super Smash Bros Brawl to match Melee’s mechanics and feel. Competitive play aside, it’s a fun mash-up title.

Super Smash Bros for WiiU and 3DS

This game is a real return to form for competitive play. It was polished, bigger, smoother, and there was no random tripping. The roster swelled even further, giving players even more choice. Despite Nintendo’s attempts to encourage the competitive scene, this game didn’t quite replace Melee. It definitely had some big moments though. It kind of goes without saying that the 3DS edition isn’t particularly represented. While it may be on the WiiU, you’re still going to need a GameCube controller. Even two generations later, Nintendo manufactured new GameCube controllers and launched an adapter to make very old hardware compatible with their latest system.

Super Smash Bros Ultimate

Smash 4 has a good run, but it was all over after Super Smash Bros Switch was announced. It is the culmination of the series. Every character ever featured is back, the DLC has been taken to new heights, and the gameplay is the fastest outside of Melee.

There isn’t any wavedashing this time around, but it is friendlier to high-level play than the likes of Bawl. Even 18 years after the first release, Nintendo is still keeping those GameCube controllers working with new hardware. Super Smash Bros Ultimate is by far the biggest and most polished entry in the series, it is also the one made with the competitive community most in mind. This approach has paid off with the following the game has gotten: Super Smash Bros. Ultimate sets viewership record at EVO 2019.

Super Smash Bros Esports have flourished in recent years. Events now routinely hold tournaments for three separate entries in the franchise, and the latest offering is one of the most popular titles around.

© Nintendo

Our Conclusion about Fighting Games

Fighting games are a huge section of the esports market, and they have a devout following of both players and people who enjoy watching the games more than playing them. Since its conception, fighting games have changed and expanded a lot. It used to be 2D 2-player competitions on arcade machines, and now we have all sorts of games on various platforms – stickman fighting games, free online fighters, indie developed games and more.

Different genres for different people

One of the more popular fighting game types that doesn’t find itself in esports that much, is anime fighting games – characters from various franchises have found their way into fighting games, including Naruto, One Piece and Dragon Ball.

Of course, even game cameos are a thing – Geralt from the Witcher has had a cameo in a SoulCalibur title. Even ‘older’ genres like the classical 2D fighters still have their fans and games that cater to them – the Japanese series BlazBlue features colourful, varied 2D fights, for example.

As for the esports side of things – fighting games have more than made their mark on the esports world, as proven by the huge tournaments these games often see. If you aren’t a fan yet, but want to become one – why not check out some of the fighting game esports news here on esports.com, or directly watch a tournament some time?