Tekken

The Year In Fighting Game Championships

Fighting games have never been as big or monetarily supported as they were in 2019. Every major fighting game franchise had a developer-backed tour leading into a major championship, many featuring some of the largest prize pools of all time. But if it’s never been easier to make a career out of playing fighting games,…

New Tekken 7 Character’s Dog Sidekick Is Good And Pure

After previously being revealed at Evo back in August, Tekken 7 newcomer Leroy Smith is finally playable via an update released earlier in the week. This elderly Wing Chun master proved popular in the fighting game community before release thanks to his unique mixture of American and Chinese fashion, but now that he’s available, folks…

Surprise Character Pick Helps Japan Take Home First Tekken World Tour Championship

Over the weekend, the Tekken World Tour finals played out in Bangkok, Thailand, bringing together some of the best Tekken 7 competitors in the world to fight for the year-end championship. While 2019 was filled with surprise performances from players outside of more visible regions like South Korea and Japan, it was players from those…

A Tekken Legend’s Visit To Pakistan Is Met With Both Cheers And Drama

Over the last year, Pakistan’s fighting game community has risen from relative obscurity to a place of prominence thanks to a handful of its players winning major Tekken 7 tournaments on the world stage. The country has garnered so much attention, in fact, that South Korean veteran Jae-Min “Knee” Bae traveled there last week to…

Our Best (And Worst) Memories Of The PlayStation, 25 Years Later

On this day 25 years ago, the Sony PlayStation released in Japan. A lot of us here at Kotaku have pretty fond memories of the PlayStation, from bartering for access with our siblings to sitting in dark, dusty basements, illuminated only by the light of an old TV and some sharp, sharp polygons. Take a…

Oh, It’s Just T-Pain Cosplaying As A Tekken Character

DragonCon, one of the biggest conventions in the US, is going down this long weekend, and among the cosplayers in attendance is rapper T-Pain, living his absolute best cosplay life as Tekken’s Leroy Smith. Leroy is a brand new character for Tekken 7, meaning this could all be just a very good marketing stunt. Then…

Peruvian Tekken Players Shock Visiting Korean Powerhouses

A trio of strong South Korean competitors traveled to Peru last weekend for a major Tekken 7 event, but they were met with fierce resistance by a group of local players who managed to keep Korean players from winning even a single game in the finals. South Korea has long been considered the most dominant…

An Evo 2019 Joke Had Fans Thinking Snake Would Be In Tekken 7

Tekken games have had some seriously far-out guest characters like Final Fantasy XV’s Prince Noctis and The Walking Dead’s villainous, bat-swinging Negan. It’s a series where anyone might show up. During the Tekken 7 grand finals at the Evolution Championship Series this past weekend, a short video made it look like Metal Gear’s Solid Snake…

Tekken director Katsuhiro Harada announced at Evo 2019 tonight that Tekken 7 will receive a third season of downloadable content. This season will include the return of Zafina as well as debut a brand new original character, Leroy Smith. The existing cast will also receive updated moves.

Arslan “Arslan Ash” Siddique steamrolled his competition to win Tekken 7 at Evo 2019. The Pakistani competitor has been on an absolute tear since his surprise victory at Evo Japan, and this latest championship ties a nice little bow on his burgeoning Tekken career.

Tekken World Tour Announces Drastic Improvements For 2019

It feels like only yesterday that the fighting game community watched surprise South Korean competitor Hyeon-ho “Rangchu” Jeong crowned global Tekken 7 champion in Amsterdam. It wasn’t, obviously, but it was only three months ago, and the folks behind the Tekken World Tour already have new details to share about what competitors can expect from…

Tekken 7 Veteran Doesn’t See A Future With The Walking Dead‘s Negan

This past weekend, a group of Tekken 7 players from South Korea traveled east to take on their Japanese counterparts in a massive 12-on-12 exhibition as part of the Tekken Pro Championships. As the two most talent-dense Tekken regions in the world, both sides fielded impressive teams featuring some of the best players from their…

Tekken 7 Player Comes Out Of Nowhere With Evo Japan Win

Despite only having happened twice so far, Evo Japan has already become a prestigious stop on the fighting game community calendar thanks to the level of talent it attracts. Last weekend’s Tekken 7 competition was no different, but the champion didn’t come from the ranks of South Korean and Japanese powerhouses who traveled to Fukuoka…

Tekken player Kazuaki “BKC” Tsukagoshi passed away over the weekend, according to a recent announcement from the Namco Sugamo game center. A eulogy on community hub Avoiding the Puddle describes BKC as a pillar of Japan’s competitive Tekken scene. He was just 30 years old.

Tekken 7 Player Wins World Championships With Panda, Of All Characters

Hyeon-ho “Rangchu” Jeong is the new Tekken 7 champion after winning the Tekken World Tour finals over the weekend at an event in Amsterdam. His victory was the culmination of a year’s worth of competition, but at times it felt like he was fighting against history and even his own character en route to earning…

Massive Tekken 7 Tournament Win Marred By Hardware Glitch

After 12 hours of intense play, MASTERCUP 10’s Tekken 7 team competition ended with the previous tournament’s runners-up finally claiming the title that they had almost managed to win a year ago. But what should have been a joyous occasion was tainted by controversy due to a slight technical malfunction during the championship match. Since…

Major Win Gives Peruvian Player An Outside Shot At Tekken World Tour Finals

Last weekend, a Tekken 7 player from Peru shook up this year’s Tekken World Tour standings with a big win that gives him a shot at the international finals later this year. Tekken Extreme Tournament is a longstanding event in South America, and this year they were chosen as a Master-level event on the Tekken…

Local Hero Thrashes Evo 2018 Champion At French Tekken 7 Tournament

Sun-woong “LowHigh” Youn has been riding high since becoming Evo 2018’s Tekken 7 champion over the summer, and he entered last weekend’s tournament at The Mixup in Lyon, France as one of the favorites to win. As the event came to a close, however, he got eliminated handily by a local player. Mickaïa “Kalak” Rabenja…

Dynamic Tekken Rematch Proves That Adaptability Is Key

One of the best parts about a series of bouts between two talented fighters is seeing how they adapt. When a player has to scrap it and step outside their comfort zone, that’s where contenders are made. And it’s exactly what Hoa “Anakin” Luu did in a tense Tekken 7 loser’s bracket match-up today. Jeannail…

When You Find The Good Button

Fighters in games like Tekken 7 can have a wide arsenal of attacks, with different angles, weights, and recovery time. But when you get the chance to mash that good button, ol’ reliable, you make the most of it. At least, that’s what Mr. Whooppee did when he trapped Rickstah’s Akuma in a barrage of…