Alex Jebailey, Community Effort Orlando

What are your criteria for choosing games at your event?

There’s a number of factors that go into picking the official games for Community Effort Orlando. When I say official, I mean ones where staff and I schedule accordingly to fit finals on the main stage, provide equipment, and create pools in advance for the event. Potential unique number of entries is a big factor as an event gets bigger and more expensive to run, what is popular across the country at other majors, in recent years thanks to developer support that can also be a driving force in helping promote those scenes for bigger turnouts.

There’s always a lot of pressure on Evo in deciding what games they can feature each year because they don’t want to leave any community out, which tends to trickle down to other events and players. Fortunately, there has been big growth across the board for multiple games, and their communities are vocal with support and attendance numbers to help events make an informed decision on their own on what games to host. Also, lining up with other events helps players that want to continually level up by giving them more opportunities to practice.

If I don’t pick a game but there’s an overwhelming backlash to include a game with players certain they’d attend, I can always reconsider and make room for it one way or another. CEO has had a good track record and pulse on picking the right games each year. It also helps being connected to just about every community through Facebook groups. That makes it so easy to keep up with current rulesets and trends in the community.

How big does local popularity play into making those decisions?

For CEO that’s also a huge factor. Since we have a slew of local events in Orlando and Tampa over the years, most games featured at the big CEO are because of the turnouts such local events consistently get. On the other side of the coin, some games have been hosted with minimal turnouts which factor into them not being featured at the event. If the local community is loud enough, there’s always room for side events once their members step up.

What significance has Street Fighter IV had at your tournaments over the past few years?

Outside of Smash in recent years, Street Fighter IV has consistently had the biggest turnouts at CEO events. Before Capcom’s Pro Tour came along and pushed things even further, it was a big driving force in CEO’s success. I still remember clearly the amount of local events I competed in across Florida that always had consistently high turnouts full of amazing people that were driven to get better at the game. CEO wouldn’t be the size it is today if it weren’t for Street Fighter IV bringing me back into the competitive fold, which in turn led to running events leading up to CEO’s birth.

I also look back before Street Fighter V comes out at the growth of Florida as a scene with players that attended CEO events such as CJ Truth and NuckleDu. Seeing them grow from first time CEO tournament players to what they have become is one of my prouder moments over the course of Street Fighter IV. I just owe so much to it getting me back into the fighting game community, creating CEO and now working what I consider my dream job for Iron Galaxy Studios on Killer Instinct.

CEO 2016 will feature both titles. How did you come to that decision?

Simple answer: people will be playing both this year. Before the Capcom Pro Tour began, Street Fighter IV was always hugely supported by the community itself, which kept it going before Capcom came on board and provided even more opportunities for players. With CEO growing as much as it has, I’m able to host Street Fighter IV on Friday and Street Fighter V on Saturday. And with both on PlayStation 4, it’s easy for us to run them, which makes their inclusion even easier.

What problems, if any, does running two games in the same series cause?

I don’t see any at all. It may eliminate the chance for another game to shine and affect a “smaller” community, but we had Street Fighter IV and Street Fighter x Tekken before, which in the end didn’t turn out the way people expected and the community stuck with the former long term. Look at Smash currently; both Super Smash Bros. Melee and Super Smash Bros. for Wii U both have huge, bustling communities that are still growing and massive events almost weekly. This could happen with Street Fighter IV.

What’s the biggest misconception folks outside of tournament organizing have about the situation?

That if a game isn’t featured at Evo, it’s instantly dead, or a title no longer getting official support from the developer means you won’t see it at any events. People might think because Street Fighter V is a new game, nobody will play Street Fighter IV anymore. However, you can look back at previous titles like Street Fighter III: 3rd strike, where some players still play that and never got into Street Fighter IV. Time will tell.

Live event numbers across the world should always do the talking in terms of how well a game is supported, not the naysayers through social media that may speak about their dislike for a game. Don’t let other people’s words decide for you whether or not you like a game. End of the day, it’s the community that really decides what games will last in tournaments in their respective regions. Keep playing what you enjoy. Organizers can only do so much with their staff in a single weekend, so don’t hesitate to really step up and offer to run games they may not be able to.

At what point would you be comfortable severing ties with Street Fighter IV?

When the community clearly shows they’ve moved onto Street Fighter V at a competitive level. GameStop’s Street Fighter IV event really got a lot of initial eyes on the game, local communities and events kept the hype going, and then Capcom’s support really kicked in across the tournament landscape with the Capcom Pro Tour. Having Street Fighter V receive amazing support out of the gate could be a game changer for the fighting game community, but players are still gonna play what they enjoy.

And no, there’s no reason to “breathe new life into Street Fighter IV” with Omega Mode or Edition Select just yet. I think Street Fighter IV will become this generation’s Super Turbo, so to speak, where it’ll still be played for years to come.

CEO 2016 is scheduled for June 24-26 in Orlando, Florida.