There is good news on the horizon for fans of Tekken 7 after Twitch and Bandai Namco announced a new tournament series.
The two companies have teamed up in an effort to create a series of tournaments for the upcoming Tekken 7 game. The Tekken World Tour will last for a total of six months, feature a $200,000 (£156,140.22) total prize pool and is expected to start on June 16.
“TEKKEN 7 is the latest chapter from one of BANDAI NAMCO’s marquee fighting game franchises and Twitch is home to the fighting game community; it made perfect sense for us to join forces and produce TEKKEN World Tour, a hard-hitting tournament series for our fans to enjoy,” Eric Hartness, Vice President of Marketing at BANDAI NAMCO America also stated.
“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.”
The official World Tour website has some dates set in place with many still being TBA. According to the website, the tour’s first destination will be the CEO Fighting Game Championships in Orlando, Floria from June 16-18. The Tour will hit several more US locations like DreamHack Atlanta and the EVO Championship Series in Vegas, in addition to Asian and Middle Eastern places like the Rev Major in Manila and the GCC Majors in Qatar.
According to a BusinessWire press release, Twitch Program Manager Richard Thiher had the following to say:
“The Fighting Game Community on Twitch features some of our platform’s most vibrant players and fans, with the TEKKEN World Tour created to celebrate their enthusiasm.
We’ve also witnessed how the Fighting Game genre has grown from local tournaments in arcades and living rooms to global attractions filling convention centers and stadiums. TEKKEN has been a major franchise and influence during this evolution. Our partnership with BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment America for this new tournament series will help keep Fighting Games at the forefront of esports, while building toward a sustainable ecosystem for all of the players, fans, and organizers involved.”
Esports Insider says: The fighting game community deserves more attention from the world of esports and this new tournament could help to accomplish just that. With the biggest streaming service, Twitch, partnering up with one of the most popular fighting game developers, Bandai Namco, this World Tour could grab the attention and money of other investors interested in the scene.