Bandai Namco announces Tekken World Tour

Tekken- a brand which resonates ‘classic fighter game’- has taken a step forward, catching the wave of the esports industry. This essential development will certainly prove beneficial, especially for the upcoming title; ‘Tekken 7’ as fanatic fans will now possess a whole new dimension of interaction and integration into the game. To create this level of connectivity, last Thursday, Bandai Namco and Twitch sealed a deal which entails Twitch’s support, for a handful of years, to stream all the upcoming gameplay while additionally lending a hand in the management of operations.

Speaking of operations, to kick off this agreement is the ‘Tekken World Tour’ with a total prize money of a whopping $200,000, over a series of multiple tournaments. The nearest one to take place at CEO 2017, mid-June at Orlando, Florida. The current system systematically divides all participants into three-regions, namely Europe, Asia-Pacific and Americas. Competing players must earn points in their own region by participating in online and local events. However, this does not restrict eager players to dominate in their restricted areas, yet it must be said that no points may be collected from inter-region events. Qualification consists of extracting the 15 greatest point-earners around the globe, 5 from each region. An odd number such as 15….isn’t that a strange number for a championship? Bandai Namco has replied by announcing another position, a 16th spot, which hungry gamers can try grasp, at EVO 2017. If one doesn’t fancy collecting points, that’s the only other entrance into the potentially largest fighting-game championship of 2017.

This climax of enthusiasm for e-sports from Bandai, has been induced by the similar excitement being shown from other large fighting-game developers. For example; the Capcom Pro Tour, Killer Instinct’s Ultra Tour, King of Fighters World Championship and the recently surfaced Injustice 2 Pro series. Though, it isn’t fair to say that Bandai Namco has only recently taken initiative, as it has expressed much gusto in the past with its many ‘Mastercup’ team tournaments and generous pot bonuses at events. Apart from that, if you’ve got time to spare this weekend, the ‘King of the Iron Fist’ tournament has arrived in London, bringing the finals of the UK Championship series to an end.

Such a late announcement, only 8 days before the release date of ‘Tekken 7’ has effectively made fans itch with elation. Oddly enough, this may sound contradictory, ‘Tekken 7’ was officially released a couple years back in Japanese arcades. After much development, adjustment, fine-tuning and prototype tournaments, Bandai Namco are ready for the world to play this awaited title.

The world simply cannot wait.