Street Fighter 6 tournament Red Bull Kumite will take place in Brooklyn, New York for its 2024 edition.
Taking place on March 16th and 17th, the event will see 16 Street Fighter players compete at Brooklyn’s Greenpoint Terminal Warehouse. In total, 14 of the participating players will be given direct invites.
Red Bull Kumite is a yearly Street Fighter competition organised by energy drink brand Red Bull. Since 2015, several locations have hosted the event, including Paris, Japan, London and Las Vegas. Last year’s edition was held in South Africa and garnered 181,850 peak viewers, according to Esports Charts.
Among the 14 direct invites include 2023 champion Adel ‘Big Bird’ Anouche, Victor ‘Punk’ Woodley, Saul Leonardo ‘MenaRD’ Mena II, and Tsunehiro ‘Gachikun’ Kanamori. In addition, two aspiring competitors may enter the event via an eight-slot Play-In tournament and the Last Chance Qualifier. The open qualifier will feature 256 slots open for public registration. More players, as well as commentators and hosts, will be announced in the upcoming weeks.
Red Bull has been a driving force in the esports industry for many years. The brand regularly partners with esports brands and hosts esports events. This recently included Red Bull League of Its Own, a showmatch event that attracted 494,324 peak viewers.
This year, AGON by AOC returns as the official monitor sponsor of Red Bull Kumite. The monitor and IT accessories brand has worked with various esports stakeholders, such as FURIA Esports and gaming bar Platform Shoreditch.
In 2023 veteran fighting game franchise Street Fighter made significant strides within the esports scene. The debut of its latest edition, Street Fighter 6, was followed by a partnership with American restaurant chain Chipotle. Moreover, UK esports organisation Guild Esports announced its expansion into Street Fighter last August.
Details regarding the event’s prize pool have not been revealed.