Today Turner Broadcasting’s ELEAGUE announced it is holding a Street Fighter Invitational Tournament worth quarter of a million dollars next month. The tournament will be broadcast both online and on television via Twitch and TBS respectively.
This is a boon for the fighting game community (FGC), which has long struggled with developer support for some games, and waning interest for others over the years. The FGC tournament circuit has endured the hard times and it is the place were many current pro gamers and esports personalities got their start.
FGC is also a place where hype reigns supreme, and sometimes the reactions are intense:
Will the roasts get too hot for TV? ELEAGUE CS:GO analyst and FGC enthusiast Richard Lewis says that competitive atmosphere is part of the draw:
“At a time when many esports titles were going through an identity crisis, unsure of whether to clean up in a bid to appeal to the mainstream or remain faithful to the hardcore, they unabashedly embraced the latter. The connection between the competitors and the fans is perhaps the closest I’ve seen.”
The ELEAGUE Street Fighter Five Invitational series kicks off on March 27th on Twitch, and it will be broadcast every Friday at 10pm.
