The Fighting Game Community (FGC) has long existed as an isolated subset of the esports industry. Long after the birth of the Riot Games’ League of Legends Championship Series and Valve’s Dota 2 The International, many prestigious fighting game tournaments were mostly grassroots events run by teams of volunteers. However, in the last two years there has been a sudden increase in FGC coverage and investment.

In early 2017, Echo Fox, the organization owned by basketball legend Rick Fox, made a huge splash by signing seven of the most prominent fighting game pros. ESPN aired live coverage of the Evolution Championship Series (Evo) in 2016 and 2017. Turner and IMG’s ELEAGUE has aired programming for Street Fighter V, Injustice 2, and, most recently, TEKKEN 7.

More prominent esports teams have professional Street Fighter, TEKKEN, and Super Smash Bros. players than ever before. Given the current rate of growth, fighting games could very well be the next big investment opportunity in esports. Today, we wanted to explore why fighting games have become so attractive to investors.

Developer Support



This is one of the magic keywords in esports. Developer support is critical to building stable leagues, offering large prize pools, and ensuring that a game remains balanced for competitive play. Fighting games have seen radical improvements in this area in just the last few years.[perfectpullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]Even Nintendo, who once tried to ban Super Smash Bros. Melee from being streamed at Evo, has now sponsored major Smash

tournaments.[/perfectpullquote]In 2017 Street Fighter V, Injustice 2, and TEKKEN 7 all had dedicated professional circuits run by the developers, with the Capcom Pro Tour, Street Fighter’s circuit, offering a $600,000 prize pool. Both the Capcom Pro Tour and TEKKEN’s circuit, the TEKKEN World Tour, have announced that they will return for a 2018 season, and Injustice 2’s developer, NetherRealm Studios, continue to support their online tournament series, War of the Gods.

Related Article: An Introduction to Watching Fighting Games as Esports

The attitude across the genre has shifted to a more direct support of FGC esports. In a letter to investors, Capcom CEO Kenzo Tsujimoto stated that Capcom ”will move forward to promote esports with the full force of our organization.” Even Nintendo, who once tried to ban Super Smash Bros. Melee from being streamed at Evo, has sponsored major Smash tournaments over the last two years. This new support has led to better infrastructure, bigger prize pools, and more marketing for FGC events.

Unique Fan Engagement



If you’ve never attended a fighting game tournament, it can be somewhat difficult to describe the passion of FGC members. The open nature of most fighting game tournaments leads to an unmatched opportunity for pros to engage with their fans.

[perfectpullquote align=”left” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]For your $30 entry fee, you would get to not only meet your favorite basketball stars, but shake their hand and play against them.[/perfectpullquote]

Imagine if you wanted to play in an amateur one-on-one basketball tournament, and you found out that LeBron James, Dwight Howard, and Derrick Rose were all going to be competing with you. For your $30 entry fee, you would get to not only meet your favorite basketball stars, but shake their hand and play against them. This is how even the most prestigious fighting game tournaments operate.

Casual players and pros play in the same venue, seated right next to each other. It gives fighting game fans a deeper connection with their top players. Even the biggest FGC pros are still members of the community, subject to the same rules and opportunities.

This connection also means that fighting game fans are willing to spend to support their favorite players. Super Smash Bros Melee has never received prize money support from Nintendo in its 15-year history. So, when popular event organizer Beyond the Summit decided to host a Melee invitational, they gave the community the chance to create the prize pool. Fans donated money to the prize pool in support of their favorite player. The players with the most donations joined top invited players at the tournament. Smash Summit 5 in 2017 raised over $40,000 in donations.

Esports organizations have capitalized on fans’ eagerness to pay to support their favorite players with personalized merchandise such as scarves, t-shirts, and Echo Fox’s Tokido-branded tape measure.

Event Sponsorships



In most esports, developers control the tournament marketplace. League of Legends and Overwatch have effectively eliminated their pro tournament scenes in favor of a league structure. Valve has strict rules regarding which tournaments can qualify for major or minor status on the Dota 2 circuit. While a similar system exists for the Capcom Pro Tour, Capcom and other developers don’t have quite the same control over the tournament scene in the FGC. As a result, there are tournaments nearly every week of the year, and most of them will feature at least a few high profile players.

[perfectpullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]The other advantage to FGC events is that they are infinitely scalable.[/perfectpullquote]

With fewer developer restrictions, there are more unique sponsorship opportunities for brands. New Japan Pro Wrestling recently partnered with a popular Florida tournament, Community Effort Orlando. Nissin Cup Noodle sponsored Evo Japan. We’ve even seen brands like Jelly Belly and Progressive sponsor FGC events.

The other advantage to FGC events is that they are infinitely scalable. ELEAGUE’s events are smaller invitationals with 16-20 players, where a tournament like Evo will host over 2,000 players. Brands have the option to host their own tournament with invited top players, or sponsor a larger open tournament.

Further, since fighting games are individual sports, brands can partner directly with individual players. Red Bull has hosted multiple fighting game tournaments, and actively sponsors multiple professional players. Other brands like Razer and Alienware have also signed deals with pros. Since there is no governing body regulating every player, tournament, and organization, the FGC is effectively an open market for brand deals with teams, tournaments, and players.

Fighting games are seeing record sales and their developers care about esports. Top pros are strong influencers connecting with a highly engaged audience. Tournaments have few restrictions on sponsorships, and the community actively supports brands that support the community. As the FGC continues to grow in viewership and professional infrastructure, it will be more and more attractive to investors at every level.