What’s up with fighting games in Argentina?

I still remember when I was ten and the excitement I felt walking into a local arcade. One of those who was able to mix billiards with air hockey and some video games that were clearly outdated for the time, but were classics. Me and the other boys and girls did everything possible to buy chips, to play and clearly to win. There have always been shoots like Metal Slug, Contra or The House of the Dead, football, like Super Sidekicks or Neo Geo Cup, the unmissable Daytona, I hope for dancing, but always (and I’m not exaggerating not when I say always) there was a fight. Sometimes Mortal Kombat, other times Tekken or Street Fighter, but he had to be there playing endless afternoons with friends or strangers throwing punches, kicks and powers. I’m sure this genre was part of a lot of people’s childhood in Argentina, but oddly it’s not that big a part of the current esports scene.

But why is that? First of all, I would like to clarify the importance of fighting games in the competitive world. There are many titles to compete for: Mortal Kombat, Dragon Ball, Super Smash Bros, The King of Fighters, Tekken, Multiversus, Guilty Gear, Marvel vs. Capcom, And the list goes on and on. And at the esports level, they are the ones who laid the foundation stone for tournaments as we know them today, with competition. Battle by the Bay of Street Fighter II in the 90s, and which mutated to become EVO (Evolution Championship Series). Its first edition dates back to 1999, and except in 2020 due to the pandemic, it was held in person every year. Today it is a kind of world of fighting games, and it encompasses many different games, in which competitors from different parts of the world participate. However, Argentina are not that strong on the international competitive map.

Obviously they are also played in Argentina, and there are several communities that, although not as big as other games, keep this essence alive, and often themselves are in charge of organizing the most tournaments important. Currently there are no professional fighting game players in the country. The mayoría de los torneos is organized for the communities and the prize pool comes from a porch of the entradas que abonan los mismos para competir, por lo que los videojuegos terminan siendo a hobbie que demande pasión y tiempo, y no algo de lo que se pueda live.

In general, in fighting games, it is more difficult to maintain than in other esports. While most publishers have a year-round tournament circuit, they focus more on North America, Europe, and Japan. Globally, there are four major events that all players aspire to participate in and win: EVO, EVO Japan, Combo Breaker, and Community Effort Orlando. They all encompass multi-game tournaments, and most the prizepool does not exceed $10,000 Or they barely exceed it, unlike other individual games like FIFA, which double that number in regional tournaments, not to mention global competitions, which are typically 50 times as many.

Fighting games are still niche; a fairly solid niche, with well-established bases and which lives the tournaments with a lot of passion, and often with an amateur spirit they fight for glory and not for money. In Argentina there are very few esports teams that bet on fighting game players, and clubs that tend to be born from communities and focus only on this discipline.

The Córdoba Showdown was recently held in the city of Córdoba, which brought together many of the best players in the country. It was an event expected by the whole community, and tournaments of four different games took place over two days. Dookie was listed in the street fightersthat of king of fighters went to the Chilean Rigo, Lea received the one from Dragon Ball Fighters Z and Akimura the Guilty Gear Strive.

“Toto” Elizalde, member of the Argentine Union of Fighting Games, also an analyst and commentator of tournaments, assures that “the next step that we must take is “break it in an international tournament”. That’s what it takes to make the world aware that fighting games are being played here, that all the people who play locally have a thirst for competition, start participating in more events and get involved in the community. Let them look out and say “Hey, in South America they play very well”something that happens little by little.

The year started recently and we already had a representative in an outdoor tournament: the Capcom Cup IX of the Street Fighter V Capcom Pro Tour, a game in which Argentina won in South America. The flag bearer was Dylan “Frozen” Dominguez, who is 20 years old and has a very good presence at the local level. He was in the place of his compatriot Dookie, who could not compete due to visa problems (a fairly recurrent thing in these cases). The tournament was played in Los Angeles, gave away $300,000, and Frozen was out in the group stage.

Another of the points that can be vital for the growth of the scene are new game launches that capture the attention of more gamers, or help form a stronger competitive environment, and there are a lot of expectations placed on 2023. This will be a year in which the long-awaited Street Fighters 6 will arrive (June 2), and announcements of Tekken 8 and Mortal Kombat 12 are expected. In addition, a large part of the community is waiting for news from Project Lthe fighting game Riot Games with characters from League of Legends. This title that was announced in 2019 still does not have a release date, what we do know is that it will be free to playAnd that’s good news.

Riot is perhaps the publisher that has best created competitive systems for its games, such as LoL or VALORANT, so if Project L becomes popular, it is very likely that there will be several official regional tournaments, and probably a kind of international world tournament. Of course, there’s nothing concrete yet and it’s just speculation, but it will depend on how the community receives it and how much they want to bet on a new genre. They recently did a test with Wild Rift (the mobile LoL), and after two years they announced that they would no longer organize leagues in the West, to focus on the Asian market. This meant a blow to competition in Europe, North America and Latin America.

I fcontent creator of fighting games and member of Leviathanopined on the matter: “I feel like it’s a growing scene. It’s still a niche and will continue to be until a game is generating a boom. It’s a pivotal year, mainly because of launches and announcements. It will be important for more players to enter the environment. Today, we understand that it is not very profitable for players. esports teams, but it would be nice if they were encouraged to put in even a small token; a Smash player, a Tekken player, a Street Fighter or Mortal kombat player. less to start sowing that seed and already have one foot in it for when the scene grows a bit more. They need to cheer each other up.”

It’s hard to spend hours and hours playing a game like you’re a pro gamer when the environment isn’t as professional as in other regions or other games. Fighting games are easy and entertaining to watch, but they’re not so friendly for casual gamers: you don’t share the game with friends and it’s just you against your opponent. In a few seconds you can lose, and you have to know how to manage frustrations and anger. Those who can do it take advantage of it and it’s super satisfying to put in a combo that takes a third of the opponent’s life, but alsoIt requires a lot of mental speed, in the hands and a more than decent internet. In person, the true potential is demonstrated, but if you’re playing online and only have a little ping, you’re already playing at a disadvantage.

Valkyrie is an FG community from Córdoba, and also an esports team that bears the same name. Zarko He is the CEO and explained: “My players have to work, they have to study and live their lives, and it’s like they go and play football with the kids. It’s good that they are dedicated, but don’t neglect them. The movement is very good, it’s very exciting, and it’s beautiful to see, it’s easy to understand. They cling to each other, whoever has the least life loses. It’s something that the boys who work there really like. There are dedicated people, there are people who like it. We have to help each other, that’s what I’ve been trying to do since Valquiria “.

There is potential in the region, and despite the fact that in any discipline we run with a certain disadvantage compared to the world leader, there are several players who have been strong and who are looking to make this international leap. In Street Fighter V they break it Dookie (Unga Bunga Team), Frozen (Unga Bunga Team), Shaka there tahiel (Justice Fighters), and Dragon Ball Fighters Z breaks down lea (Chingon Team), in Gulty Gear is Rubik’s there Akimura (Valquiria Esports), and in The King of Fighters XV he stands out Kaiser (Fighters for justice). The talent is there, and if the right conditions are met, Argentina could position themselves on the local scene and surprise everyone on a global scale.

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