Following the end of World Cyber Games last year, another organization quickly stepped in to take its place. Despite its slightly unwieldy name, World e-Sports Championship Games went about putting together a number of qualifiers for their grand finals event, which was scheduled to be held this February. Unfortunately, difficulties have brought that plan to a grinding halt.
The festival’s official website was recently updated with news regarding the upcoming finals tournament, citing issues with both sponsors and scheduling. Far from a minor inconvenience, however, these conflicts will postpone all of their upcoming events until further notice.
After a short polling process, Ultra Street Fighter IV was chosen as WECG’s main fighting title, situated in the lineup alongside other popular games like DotA 2 and Hearthstone. Qualifiers held in South Korea and Japan saw Seonwoo “Infiltration” Lee, Qanba’s Haojun “Dakou” Su, Hooman “HooDaMan” Ghahremani of Pandora House, and Hiroshi “NISHIKIN” Nishikido earn places in the main event. Though only a portion of the final bracket, these competitors show that it was shaping up to be quite varied in terms of global representation.
This news is the latest in a line of shaky partnerships between the fighting game community and the larger competitive gaming scene. Most recently, players, commentators, and other personalities invited to take part in ESGN TV’s Fight Night series failed to receive payment after parent company Clauf faced financial woes.
With the success of Capcom Cup 2014 and a bright future in store for Street Fighter fans thanks to Sony’s involvement this year, relying on flash in the pan organizations may be a thing of the past.
Source: WECG via NISHIKIN and Beast Note