Acting as the inaugural event for Esports Arena Las Vegas and the opening leg of the Smash Masters League, expect the top of the Super Smash Bros. for Wii U tree turning out for Battle of Vegas. Running from March 24th-25th, this event will see players competing for a share of a $25,000 prize pool, as well as for points on the global Smash Masters League leaderboard.
While the majority of Smash Masters League events will take place at Esports Arenas across the world, certain tournaments have partnered with Esports Arena to act as ranking events. So far, Full Bloom 4 and Respawn 6 are confirmed as partnered tournaments, with more announcements to come in the future.
For more information on the Smash Masters League, check out its official website and if you wish to participate in Battle for Vegas, registration is available on smash.gg. Keep in mind that unlike most Smash tournaments, Battle for Vegas is singles-only — so don’t rely on a friend to carry you to the big bucks!
After setting record numbers for PC players during its release weekend, Dragon Ball FighterZ has set another record on console — being the most successful digital fighting game launch of all time. Beating out the likes of Street Fighter V and Tekken 7, Dragon Ball FighterZ is estimated to have sold over 1.5 million digital console units, according to stats provided by SuperData Research.
Looking at total worldwide sales data on console, Dragon Ball FighterZ came in sixth, beating the likes of Destiny 2, Madden NFL 18 and Rainbow Six Siege. When you consider DBFZ launched in late January and that these figures only account for digital sales, its success is nothing short of astounding.
The real test of Dragon Ball FighterZ will be its retention rates and if this huge influx of players will be felt at tournaments. There has already been a substantial drop-off of players on PC and consoles — only natural when you consider casual players moving on and Dragon Ball FighterZ‘s matchmaking issues — so the first proper benchmark will be at majors like Combo Breaker and CEO, and of course Evo.
A constant presence in multiple games within the FGC, Circa Esports has announced that the organization will cease operation following this year’s Evo. Announced by Circa Esports CEO Marc Leikach on Twitter, this decision comes as the organization failed to receive a new round of investment capital, just as they were moving into new premises in Florida.
Today the owners of @CircaeSports had to make the hardest decision. I am sad to announce that after Evo we will be ending the operations of the organization. This decision was not the easiest since we all put our hearts into this for the past three years. pic.twitter.com/KyxTu5a3Lt
Speaking to Unikrn News following the Twitter statement, Leikach did not want Circa to “end up like the other organizations that screw over their players for not paying or sending them to events,” meaning closing up shop was the only feasible option. Despite the financial issues, currently sponsored players will have their contracts honored up until the end of Evo 2018.
Circa’s involvement in the FGC was not limited to a single game, picking up players and streamers for Injustice 2, Killer Instinct, Tekken 7, Street Fighter V, Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, Pokkén Tournament and Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite, to name but a few.
Following ARIKA’s livestream yesterday where they revealed their target release date for Fighting EX Layer, the studio have released two new character trailers — showing off Blair Dame, Jack (formerly known as Cracker Jack) and Shadowgeist.
While Blair looks quite similar to her Street Fighter EX/Fighting Layer incarnation, Jack has seen a major redesign, presumably to avoid any legal trouble with the famous snack food. Rather than a Vegas bouncer, Jack’s new look has him dressed as a rodeo cowboy, complete with spurs, ten-gallon hat and a lasso. He’s still got his trusty baseball bat though, bringing the old girl to bear for one of his supers.
As for the vigilante Shadowgeist, he’s retained his tokusatsu-esque costume, complete with cape and Minus Energy power belt. Like fellow superhero Skullomania, Shadowgeist has retained his Raging Demon-esque super, the Death Dream. At the end of his trailer, two silhouettes can be seen behind him, relating to the two remaining characters that will join Fighting EX Layer‘s launch roster. With one silhouette wielding a staff and the other a rifle of some kind, these two fighters may be Nanase and Sharon from Street Fighter EX 2.
With a resume as long as a TAC Infinite, Justin Wong has earned his place as a legend within the fighting game community. With over 24 Evo medals across 10 different games, Justin’s overall skill is almost unparalleled among his peers. As part of their ongoing profile series about different esports figures, theScore esports has delved into Justin’s past for a retrospective look at his fighting game career.
From his start in Marvel 2, his ascendancy during Marvel 3 and now his transition to playing fighting games full-time, this chronicles goes over all the highlights of Justin’s almost 20-year career. As Dragon Ball FighterZ is the tag fighter du jour, we’ll see if the Wong Factor can translate from the world of Marvel to the world of Dragon Ball.
It’s been no secret that Dragon Ball FighterZ has had some problems when it comes to its online matchmaking. Whether it’s Ring Matches not working as intended or disconnect issues, it hasn’t been plain sailing for one of the most popular fighting games in recent memory. Arc System Works and Bandai Namco are well aware of the issues, and have just outlined a patch roadmap for DBFZ.
Dragon Ball FighterZ game producer Tomoko Hiroki confirms the roadmap for the coming patches including fixes for the Ring Match and disconnection issues. Thanks for your feedback and support! pic.twitter.com/MndzzOsODm
Laid out by DBFZ producer Tomoko Hiroki, players can expect three patches — one later this month, and then two more in mid and late March to rectify all issues. By the sounds of it, these patches will just fix the various problems with matchmaking, so don’t expect any balance changes to come with these.
Two familiar faces are returning to fight, as Bandai Namco have announced that snake sword-wielding Ivy and scythe-wielding sorcerer Zasalamel will appear in SoulCalibur VI. Both of them sport updated versions of their original costumes.
As Ivy’s weapon can swap between whip and sword forms, expect her to be a threat at all ranges. She can start a juggle combo from half a screen away, using her whip to fling her opponent straight into her onslaught. Watch your toes when you’re fighting Ivy too, as her snake sword can drill under the ground, grab you by the feet and hang you up to dry.
Being a master of magics, Zasalamel comes to SoulCalibur VI with a robe full of tricks. Along with his scythe Kafziel, Zasalamel can call upon the power of the Abyss for certain special moves. Not only can he briefly stop time, but he can drag his opponent towards him using a special “black hole” spell. These abyssal moves were previously exclusive to Abyss, the skeletal final boss of SoulCalibur III and an alternate version of Zasalamel.
SoulCalibur VI is expected to launch sometime in 2018 for PC, PS4 and Xbox One.
A collaboration that’s been a long time in the making, 2GG have at last partnered up with Mango to host a new Melee tournament series, named after the one and only GOAT of the game. Called The Mango — after Mango’s love of calling anything he does ‘The Mango’ — this series will eventually lead to Mango Juice 2, the follow-up to a legendary Melee tournament that 2GG founder Champ ran all the way back in 2009.
Along with the usual singles and doubles bracket, The Mango will have a ladder-style bracket and a special “buster bracket” for those who didn’t make it out of pools. If you want a break from playing Melee, you can also shoot some hoops on the basketball court at the venue. If you’re already set on coming to The Mango, early registration is open until February 26th with late registration closing on March 16th.
The Mango will take place at Thunder Studios in Long Beach, California on March 18th, with registration now open on smash.gg.
First Street Fighter V, then Injustice 2 and now Tekken 7 — it seems that ELEAGUE is determined to keep its hand in the FGC with its own invitational events. Hosted at Turner Studios in Atlanta, Georgia on March 3rd, Tekken Team Takedown will see some of the world’s best Tekken 7 players battling it out in a special televised tournament. ELEAGUE have yet to announce the players or the format for this invitational but it looks to be a one-day event, rather than a larger series as was the case with Street Fighter V and Injustice 2.
If you want to attend, tickets are available for free over on the ELEAGUE website. Tickets are limited, with the first 200 applicants being guaranteed entry. Based on the name “Tekken Team Takedown”, the event could have a draft format, with select team captains picking players from the pool of invited participants to face off in a larger bracket. Expect more details on the invited players, tournament format and stream details in the near future.
It’s that time of year again, world warriors. Following the reveal of the first two Premier events on this year’s Capcom Pro Tour, Capcom have published the full details on this year’s circuit, complete with information on its revised point structure and Regional Final setup.
As with last year, the reigning Capcom Cup champion will gain an automatic place in the circuit finals — meaning MenaRD has already secured his spot in the final 32. He’ll still need to compete in the Pro Tour though, in order to get decent seeding for the main event. There will also be a Last Chance Qualifier at Capcom Cup 2018, due to its overwhelming popularity at last year’s event. This means that no matter your region or your Ranking points, you’ve still got a shot to make it into Capcom Cup by winning this qualifier.
The overall points structure remains the same, with players rising up the CPT leaderboard by placing at Ranking or Premier events. The majority of the Capcom Cup 2018 bracket will be based on points total, with four players autoqualifying via their area’s Regional Finals. The main change has been to point values, with Premier events giving out the most points while Ranking events awarding significantly less — so get ready to rack up those frequent flyer miles.
Regional Finals are now split into two sections: the Regional Open Premier tournament and the Regional Top 8. The Open Premier is open to anyone, with players from any region being able to earn points for the Global leaderboard. The Regional Top 8 however is restricted to players from that region, with the seeding for that event being based on the area’s Regional leaderboard. The winner of the Regional Top 8 will earn the auto-qualifier spot for Capcom Cup, meaning that out-of-region players cannot snipe spots from local competitors.
Now here’s the bit you’ve all been waiting for: the Capcom Pro Tour schedule. This year’s circuit will have 14 Global Premier events alongside Evo, as well as various offline and online Ranking events.
GLOBAL PREMIER EVENTS
FINAL ROUND 20 – Atlanta, GA, March 16-18
NORCAL REGIONALS 2018 – Sacramento, CA, March 30 – April 1
STUNFEST 2018 – Rennes, France, May 18-20
COMBO BREAKER 2018 – Chicago, IL, May 25-27
TW FIGHTER MAJOR – Taipei, Taiwan, June 16-17
COMMUNITY EFFORT ORLANDO 2018 – Orlando, FL, June 29 – July 1
VSFIGHTING 2018 – Birmingham, UK, July 20-22
ESPORTS FESTIVAL HONG KONG – Hong Kong, August 25-26
CHINA PREMIER EVENT – China, September 1-2
DREAMHACK MONTREAL – Montreal, Canada, September 7-9
SOCAL REGIONALS 2018 – Los Angeles, CA, September
JAPAN PREMIER at TOKYO GAME SHOW – Tokyo, Japan, September
EGX – EU REGIONAL FINAL – Birmingham, UK, September 20-23
SEAM 2018 – ASIA REGIONAL FINAL – Singapore, October 13-14
CANADA CUP 2018 – Toronto, Canada, October 26-28
RED BULL NA REGIONAL FINAL – November
LATAM REGIONAL FINAL – Brazil, November 2-4
CAPCOM CUP 2018 – TBD
NORTH AMERICA RANKING EVENTS
TEXAS SHOWDOWN – Houston, TX, May 4-6
TORYUKEN – Toronto, Canada, May 19-20
DREAMHACK AUSTIN – Austin, TX, June 1-3
NORTH WEST MAJORS – Des Moines, WA, June 22-24
DEFEND THE NORTH – White Plains, NY, July 20-22
SUMMER JAM – Philadelphia, PA, August 31 – September 2
EAST COAST THROWDOWN – New Jersey, October 20-21
ASIA RANKING EVENTS
THAIGER UPPERCUT – Bangkok, Thailand, March 24-25
FIGHTER’S SPIRIT – Seoul, Korea, April 14-15
SAIGON CUP – Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam, April 21-22
BATTLE ARENA MELBOURNE – Melbourne, Australia, May 16-18
ABUGET CUP – Jakarta, Indonesia, July 7-8
FV CUP 2018 – Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, July 14-15
EUROPE RANKING EVENTS
BRUSSELS CHALLENGE – Brussels, Belgium, April 7-8
SONIC BOOM – Madrid, Spain, July 7-8
HEADSTOMPER – Denmark, July 28-29
FIGHT NIGHT NRW – Cologne, Germany, August 11-12
CELTIC THROWDOWN – Dublin, Ireland, August 25-26
ULTIMATE FIGHTING ARENA – Lyon, France, August 31 – September 2
STREET GRAND BATTLE – France, September 7-9
LATIN AMERICA RANKING EVENTS
GAME OVER – Dominican Republic, April 28-29
THE FIGHT – Columbia, June 8-10
FIGHT IN RIO – Rio, Brazil, July 21-22
FURIA TICA 2018 – Costa Rica, August 11
LIMA SALTY – Peru, August 26-27
FIRST ATTACK – Puerto Rico, September 1-2
TRETA – Curitiba, Brazil, September
NEVER GIVE UP – Chile, September 22-23
FIGHTING FEST – Dominican Republic, September 29-30
THUNDERSTRUCK – Mexico, October 6-7
BUENOS AIRES TRUE SALT – Argentina, October 13-14
JAM NERD FESTIVAL – Chile, October 19-21
This is only a preliminary schedule, so expect more Ranking and Online Ranking Events to join this list in the future, along each region’s respective Regional Finals. For all the details about this year’s Capcom Pro Tour, head on over to the official CPT site.
