Mentioned in this article Games: Tekken 7

The Iron Fist Tournament is returning in a big way this June, and Twitch will be the only place to catch the action. As part of a multi-year partnership with BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment, the streaming site will not only broadcast the Tekken World Tour, but also run circuit events and build long-term infrastructure for the 13-year old franchise’s new competitive league.

Eric Hartness, vice-president of marketing at BANDAI NAMCO said:

“Our collective goal with the Tekken World Tour is to create an unparalleled competitive tournament experience and share the bone-crushing excitement of TEKKEN 7 through Twitch’s social video platform so that Tekken fans around the world can enjoy and participate in the action.”

[perfectpullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]The Tekken World Tour will play out as a six-month season of competitions, starting June 16-18.[/perfectpullquote]

The Tekken World Tour will play out as a six-month season of competitions, starting June 16-18 at the CEO Fighting Game Championships. A total prize pool of over $200,000 awaits participants, who must register through the individual partnered events. The aim of the tour, according to Richard Thiher, Twitch’s Program Manager, is to “help keep Fighting Games at the forefront of esports, while building toward a sustainable ecosystem for all of the players, fans, and organizers involved.”

According to Esports Earnings, Tekken 7’s largest prize-pool to date was $40,000 for The King of Iron Fist Tournament 2015. When it comes to the top fighting game earners of all time, the franchise’s best player doesn’t even crack the top 20. With its extensive online ranking and tournament mode, Tekken 7 seems engineered for esports, and hopefully taking the competitive scene global and upping the stakes will finally unlock that potential.

It faces tough competition on the viewership front though. Less than a month ago, Warner Bros. announced that ESL would be its tag-team partner for the Injustice 2 Championship Series, offering over $600,000 in prizes. Only time will decide if these massive campaigns by publishers to increase the visibility of fighting game esports will be successful, or even fully embraced by the scene’s grassroots supporters.