As we come to the start of a brand new decade, it gives all of us the perfect time to reflect on the journey of the last 10 years and boy has it been a journey in the realm of fighting games and the FGC as a whole.
We'd previously asked the community what you all thought the best / most important fighting games of the 2010's were, and so now the EventHubs team members themselves have come together to rank their favorite fighters of the decade in our very own tier lists.
Update: You can check out the final results of our poll below to see which games our readers believe to be the best / most impactful games of the 2010's.
December is upon us which means that there's only one month left in this entire decade that's been the biggest and most important eras in fighting game history. Today, the genre feels larger than ever before following the mostly quiet times of the 2000's before Street Fighter 4's release.
There's been so many fighting games that have come out in the last 10 years that many fans probably either forgot about or thought came out more than 10 years ago, so we've put together a giant poll to ask everyone what they think were the absolute best of the best and most impactful — from (Super) Street Fighter 4 all the way to Mortal Kombat 11 and Samurai Shodown.
Update: Skybound Games has confirmed Skullgirls' release date for the Switch with a new trailer while at the same time announcing that the Xbox One version of 2nd Encore has been delayed indefinitely with more information added to the story below.
Lab Zero Games just released their sophomore gaming endeavor with Indivisible last week, but now their original work is about to find a new home as well.
Skullgirls 2nd Encore will launch on Nintendo Switch a week from today on October 22 according to the game's eShop page listing.
Update: This story has been updated with final results.
Treta Championship Series is an event taking place this weekend in Curitiba, Brazil.
Some of the notable players participating include Keoma, Shodown|HKDash, Brolynho, Dark, GetGosu|Darlan, HDG|Younghou, Arthuro-Ray, Shodown|Chuchu, The Griffon Mask, TUQ|Zenith, though there are of course many more as well.
Update: This story has been updated with final results.
This weekend is a big one for many different fighting games and regions, with one of the events being the annual Viennality, which fitting to its name takes place in Vienna, Austria.
Some of the notable players in attendance include PxP|A Foxy Grampa, DizzyTT, BC|Biohazard, PG|Hayatei, NASR|TekkenMaster, BC|HoneyBee, Demise|Trifasia, Ace|Overtriforce, Oplon|Skyll, RB|Ice, D4|RZA, WIP|WhiteBl4ck, NASR|SharkTeeth, Viennality|HappyPow, IrishMantis and LOK|Nivek.
The biggest PC gaming sale of the year is finally upon us with the Steam Summer Sale which may prove to be one of the best times ever to pick up some fighting games for cheap.
There are over 50 different titles and their DLC currently discounted until July 9 including some of the largest titles of the past few years like Mortal Kombat 11, Soul Calibur 6 and so much more.
Updates: This story has been updated with final results.
There's a giant fighting game event happening this weekend St. Charles, Illinois. Basically any fighting game you'd be interested in will be featured, and has a high number of entrants here.
For just a sampling of the talent present at this event, you can expect to see FOX|SonicFox, REC|Punk, Rohto|Tokido, Mouz|Problem X, RB|Gachikun, JDCR, Rangchu, ROX|Knee, CO|Go1, Teresa, Dragon, CYG|Fuudo, Victrix|Momochi, CYG|Daigo, UYU|LowHigh, EG|NYChrisG, NRG|HookGangGod, RB|Anakin, PG|MarlinPie, CO|Dogura, ROX|Chanel, LostSoul, Linkorz, UYU|Jeondding, BC|Tachikawa, NASR|AngryBird, BC|ApologyMan, BjornSonOfBear, 1UP|PepperySplash, KOA|Sandman, UYU|CherryBerryMango, DR Gross, END|Scar, AN|KizzieKay, Flux, DJT, Noble|Semiij, NASR|TekkenMaster, DF|Saiyne, AXL|Boom, Supernoon, SSNO|KojiKOG, Hotashi and CATPION|Deb but of course many, many more as well, because there are far too many huge players to name even a fraction.
Update: This story has been updated with final results.
This weekend, we have BAM — Battle Arena Melbourne — 11 taking place, and it's of course happening in Melbourne, Australia.
Some of the players set to compete at this event are THY|Chikurin, Rangchu, RZR|Xian, UYU|OilKing, JDCR, DNG|Itabashi Zangief, PBE|Doujin, RB|Bonchan, Liquid|John Takeuchi, Yamasa|Take, Yamasa|Nobi, COOASGAMES|Noroma, CYG|GamerBee, Mago, EQNX|Dimeback, Fate|Ulsan, iG|Jiewa, Rise|K-Brad, ALUS|Yang Mian, Yamasa|Yuu, YOG|Machabo, SIN|Brandon and Somniac though there are obviously many more.
Fighting game final bosses are among the most iconic and memorable among all genres of video games because they represent — especially in the arcade era — the highest mountain you had to climb over to reach the top against computer players that would do everything in their power, including breaking the game, to destroy you and force you to spend another quarter.
Many of them have a number of design choices in common. They have the color red worked into their primary or secondary color schemes, they want to control / destroy the world, or they may simply want to acquire the best of every fighting style via assimilation. There are a number of them that have stood the test of time amongst their peers, however — we don't exactly hear too many people clamoring about Azazel from Tekken 6 or Ultron Sigma.
Click Burgundy is a Japanese artist we've featured a number of times on EventHubs already because of their godlike fighting game art, and their work continues to be amazing.
We've collected a dozen more pieces from Click Burgundy's recent collections where they seem to have been pretty excited about the EVO and EVO Japan line ups plus some other recent fighting game announcements like Videl in Dragon Ball FighterZ — and I guess we know which side of the pigtails vs. short hair debate they fall on.
Update: We've updated the story with the results of the poll, so hit the jump to find out which series led the race with the most votes that people want to see as the sixth fate in BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle.
BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle released as a crossover title between four different franchises with BlazBlue, Under Night In-Birth, Persona 4 Arena and RWBY. Three of them had games that were originally developed or published by Arc System Works while one was entirely new to fighting games entirely.
Update: This story has been updated with final results.
This weekend will be a joyous one indeed, because it is the return of Destination: Fight!
Destination: Fight! 5 will be taking place as usual in Skövde, located centrally in Sweden.
This event has a bunch of games being played, with tournaments being held in Street Fighter 5: Arcade Edition, Tekken 7, Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2, Skullgirls: 2nd Encore, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Dragon Ball FighterZ, BlazBlue: Central Fiction, Ultra Street Fighter 4, Under Night In-Birth EXE: Late[st], Slap City, Persona 4: Arena Ultimax and Rivals of Aether.
Players from all around are set to gather the event, including Svampen, KSP|Ixion, Cyrox, PsychedelicPet, LD|Zake, Martin, Hiari, LBA|Popi, KaiserSWE, KSP|Bobbis, SmashSK, Stimoro and many more... Including myself!
It's a two-day event, and almost every game will be receiving stream time, so make sure to tune in for your games of choice and enjoy the show.
Streaming is being done at Destination Fight and Neophos.
Update: This story has been updated with final results.
The second installment ever of one of the biggest tournament expansions we've seen is here this weekend, namely the expansion of the EVO brand to Japan, with EVO Japan 2019.
This year, it's taking place in Fukuoka rather than Tokyo, and although entrants aren't as high as they were in last year's monumental premier year, the entrants certainly aren't anything to scoff at.
Over 1000 players are participating in Street Fighter 5: Arcade Edition, over 500 in Tekken 7, and roughly between 200-300 each for Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2, BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle, Soul Calibur 6 and King of Fighters 14, respectively.
While these 6 games are the main titles at the event, there'll be an absolutely insane amount of side tournaments as well, so make sure you keep in tune with all of the action.
Players participating are a bit too plentiful to list, but just count on the vast majority of Asian top players — and many other top players from other regions of the world — being present and competing.
Streaming is being done at EVO, EVO 2, EVO 3 and EVO 4.
Side events are set to be streamed at KVO Japan 01, KVO Japan 02, KVO Japan 03 and KVO Japan 04.
Fighterpedia originally released as a 13-part series in 2011 as a celebration of fighting games and the absolute absurdity of them, but they became impossible to watch legitimately in recent times after Machinima began removing videos before their complete closure earlier this year.
Woolie and Matt McMuscles, the original creators of the Fighterpedia and formerly of Super Best Friends Play, began the task in 2018 to remaster and remake the show that introduced the world to Zubaz plus a bunch of references and memorable quotes which are still uttered around the community today.
The first three episodes of Fighterpedia HD are now live with re-recorded audio and visuals with editing duties falling to another community member in Daisy Del Carmen, but they didn't stop with a simple remaster. New visuals and dialogue / jokes have also been added to the videos to update them for the seven years that have passed since the original while keeping the spirit of 2011's FGC.
"In terms of changes, the main goal is to free it from the old pre-widescreen, 560 x 340 format of 2011, and re-render the assets in a more future-proof way," said Woolie. "While we're at it, however, we figured that we might as well take the opportunity to save ourselves from any jokes that make us cringe watching it now, or add extra parts in some episodes to make EX meter burn versions of the original bit now that we know the future."
Rejected Street Fighters is perhaps the most well-known of the series as its first episode and the video that gave the internet the unused bullfighter character with the name 'Zubaz' on his shirt, who has since gone on to appear in a number of video games like Divekick, Pocket Rumble and Shovel Knight. It also showed off art of prototype fighters for Street Fighter 2 with the evolution of Vega from a ninja to a Templar knight before reaching his final design while Zangief was named 'Vodka Gorbalsky.'
Click images for larger versions
The second remaster released was for the seven best and worst fighting game stages circa 2011 including the likes of Street Fighter Alpha 2's iconic Stormy Fields, Akuma randomly roaming the halls of the Shadaloo base in Street Fighter: The Movie The Game and King of Fighters 2002's strange giant clogs and sheep. May we never speak of Pokefloats again.
Update: This story has been updated with final results.
Frosty Faustings XI is taking place this weekend — or to be more specific, this Friday and Saturday — in Illinois.
This is a pretty huge event with more than 1200 entrants total, so the competition is going to be off the charts for several of the games present.
Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2 and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate both have over 200 entrants, while BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle, Dragon Ball FighterZ, Soul Calibur 6, Under Night In-Birth EXE: Late[st], Tekken 7, Street Fighter 5: Arcade Edition and the event's Mystery Tournament all have over 100 entrants each.
Besides these titles, you can also expect tournament play to be streamed for Skullgirls: 2nd Encore, Street Fighter 3: 3rd Strike, Vampire Savior (Darkstalkers), Windjammers, Super Smash Bros. Melee, Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite, Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars, Pokkén Tournament DX, King of Fighters 14, Guilty Gear XX Accent Core +R, BlazBlue: Central Fiction, Melty Blood: Actress Again Current Code, Super Sailor Moon S, Fighting EX Layer, Super Street Fighter 2: Turbo, Injustice 2, Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 and Killer Instinct.
Players set to attend include NuckleDu, REC|Punk, NRG|HookGangGod, LostSoul, UYU|Cloud805, EG|NYChrisG, BC|LordKnight, 1UP|PepperySplash, PG|MarlinPie, Teresa, Disrupt|Shadow20z, BjornSonOfBear, FF|ElvenShadow, Jona, FOX|Dekillsage, TS|Arturo Sanchez, Mr. K, Hotashi, NRG|Supernoon, Brian_F, Disrupt|Joonya20z, BxA|Blaze, ITS|ShinBlade, ITS|Mak, UYU|BeautifulDude, Foo, JodyThaGreat and many, many more.
Streaming is being done at BG Callisto, Low Kick Tournaments, Team Spooky, Will English IV, rs Blackrose and Unrivaled Tournaments.
Update: This story has been updated with final results.
Big happenings this weekend in London, United Kingdom.
Revolution 2018 is taking place as it does annually, and there are a bunch of games and players present for high level competition.
The main tournament games you can expect to see at this event are BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle, Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2, BlazBlue: Central Fiction, Dragon Ball FighterZ, Skullgirls: 2nd Encore, King of Fighters 14, Fighting EX Layer, Pokkén Tournament DX and Under Night In-Birth EXE: Late[st].
This is also a qualifying event for the ArcRevo World Tour next year for the first three mentioned games above.
Players attending are plentiful, but just a few notable names include Svampen, Kiba, KingRasta, Nyphi7, gwak.fr|Shenzo, LD|Zake, ZW|Achorawl, though there are of course many more as well.
Streaming is being done at NGI Events and Nth Gen Media.
Update: This story has been updated with final results.
Big happenings in Florida this weekend, as the annual CEOtaku 2018 is taking place.
As something of a CEO spinoff focusing heavily on airdashers or anime-styled games, this event has just grown and grown with every year.
This year, the main game, BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle has surpassed 300 entrants, with three other games — Under Night In-Birth EXE: Late[st], Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2 and Dragon Ball FighterZ — also all surpassing 200 entrants, making for a huge turnout.
Besides these four games, there's plenty more to be played — tournaments will also be held for BlazBlue: Central Fiction, Koihime Enbu: RyoRaiRai, Skullgirls: 2nd Encore, Melty Blood: Actress Again Current Code, Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite, SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy, Guilty Gear XX Accent Core +R, Sailor Moon S, Fighting EX Layer, Arcana Heart 3: Love Max Six Stars and Dissidia Final Fantasy NT.
As for players attending, you can expect to see FOX|SonicFox, NRG|HookGangGod, PG|SKD, WN|LostSoul, WG|Samitto, Kedako, UYU|KizzieKay, LordKnight, Jona, NRG|Supernoon, FOX|Dekillsage, UYU|Cloud805, PurePure, PAG|Grover, Hotashi, FOX|Punk, 1Up|PepperySplash, PG|MarlinPie, PG|Nakkiel, Foo, FF|ElvenShadow, Clim, KnowKami, UYU|BeautifulDude, BxA|Argenrost, DATA|TectalEastside and many more.
Streaming is being done at CEO Gaming, DATA FGC and Polarity GG.